Monochrome
by Ninja Shen
Summary: No evil is pure black, and no good is pure white. Nekozawa x Haruhi
1. Palmistry

A.N.: Where I have read to in the manga, being unable to read raw scanlations and relying on the Viz translation, I as of yet have seen none of the Black Magic Club. Since this story focuses around Nekozawa, some scenes will take place at his club; therefore, I will have to invent a lot. As new knowledge comes to me of the club's members and activities I will make appropriate changes to the story. But until I have more evidence I will at least try not to write them too much. After all, this is a story about Nekozawa; not his club.

* * *

Umehito Nekozawa was completely at a loss. He just couldn't seem to function properly. His grades, his mood, even his club activities were all suffering. He made less frequent appearances at other people's clubs, trying to coax them into joining his own, and in fact often didn't even come to class.

He was searching for Bereznoff.

This happened from time to time. He knew he was a social outcast, not that it bothered him, but because of it he was subject to childish teasing and pranks. Often, his tormentors would choose to steal and hide his treasured cat puppet. They always thought they were so damned funny. It was a particularly bad problem in his first year of middle school- when everyone was required to take P.E.

No matter how rich you are, there's no escaping a mandatory gym class.

This time, the Theater Club (who were in the same hallway as the Black Magic Club) had asked to borrow some props for one of their productions. While Nekozawa was slightly offended that they would call his articles of power and ancient religious antiques "props", he helped them out nonetheless, because the Theater Club offended him in no way, and anyhow he would get his club advertised in the production's program.

But somewhere along the way, in the moving of objects from one room to another, Bereznoff had gotten lost, and for the life of him Nekozawa couldn't remember where. He'd searched the entire Theater as well as his own club room to no avail. He even managed to get both clubs to aid his search one evening (much to their chagrin), but nothing came up.

It had now been nearly a week.

Bereznoff had always turned up before. He would be lost for a day, maybe. But he would always find his way back to his master. But for some reason, this time, the poor spirit could not find his way back home. It was a very trying experience for Nekozawa and for everyone who knew him, because anyone who had thought they'd seen Nekozawa at his most frightening had not seen him in a bad mood. His attitude with people was short, and his patience was thin. And when he cursed at you, somehow it was much easier to believe you may actually have been cursed.

The reason for all this spite wasn't even because Bereznoff was lost- it was because he was stolen. Nekozawa knew that someone had Bereznoff and was intentionally keeping it from him. He saw it all in a tarot layout- all, but who had actually done it. Tarot cards are not quite that specific.

Some people thought it was better off this way. He was seen less frequently, and perhaps if Bereznoff were lost forever, Nekozawa would outgrow his childish need for it. But for the rare few people that actually knew him, all were pained to see him in that state, miserable and irritated, haunting the halls of Ouran like a ghost.

Meanwhile, poor Bereznoff was suffering his own form of torture. For indeed, Nekozawa's prediction had been right; the small cat was being held captive- the new temporary plaything of the Hitachiin twins.

"How about the flagpole?" Kaoru suggested, pulling on Bereznoff's ear, "Maybe we could tie it to the top."

"That's too high, no one would ever see it," Hikaru replied, waving the idea off. "Besides, how would we get it up there? We need someplace where someone would eventually _find_ it."

"Maybe a basketball hoop, then. He'd have to actually make a basket to get it down!"

"What are you two doing?" Haruhi inquired, taking a seat beside Kaoru. The two boys grinned mischievously at her.

"Hello, Haruhi!" they greeted in unison. The girl's eyes widened in surprise as Bereznoff waved at her from Kaoru's hand. "Where did you get that!?" she asked.

"We _found_ it," Hikaru explained, "It's not like we stole it."

"The Theater Club has the same costume designer as the Host Club," Kaoru continued. "We went down there to get our next box of costumes, and it was just sitting on top of the box."

"Finders keepers!" the two of them laughed. Haruhi rolled her eyes.

"Not that it's any business of mine, but doesn't it occur to you he's probably going crazy looking for it?" she asked, but they seemed unaffected.

"We'll give it back," they defended, as Kaoru turned it over and peered inside, as if trying to decide what to fill the puppet with.

"We're just thinking of creative ways to surprise Nekozawa with it!" Hikaru laughed. "Like if he found it in the aquarium in the first library."

"Hey! That's a _good_ one!" Kaoru quickly jumped at the suggestion. "Can you imagine the look on his face?"

It was that moment that Haruhi chose to swipe the doll from Kaoru's uncaring grasp. "Hunny has a doll, too, and no one makes fun of him for it," she scolded, putting the doll in her bag.

_Of course, Hunny has the body and spirit of an eight year old..._

"Why are you defending Nekozawa?" The twins asked together.

"Who knows," she answered. "I'm giving this back to him."

"Aw, Haruhi, don't be mad!" they pleaded simultaneously, identical grins plastered across their faces.

As she didn't share any classes with him, the only place Haruhi knew for sure she could find Nekozawa was at his club. She only had a vague sort of idea where their club office was, but knew at least when they met. It was hard to forget the club that scrawled their own meeting time over the fliers for other clubs in black calligraphy ink.

One of the Black Magic Club's meeting days was shared with her own club, so that was out of the question, but the other wasn't. So after class that day, she made her way down to the art wing of the school. She'd heard that they met in one of the theater rehearsal rooms.... when the Theater Club didn't need it.

_I guess they aren't a very popular club, that they only get space if no one needs it..._

Finally finding the room she assumed to be the right one, she unhesitatingly knocked. After a long moment, the door cracked open with an eerie creaking noise, and a hooded figure peered out at her. Haruhi suppressed the urge to shiver uncomfortably.

Immediately Nekozawa recognized one of the members of the Host Club, and was filled with dread and anxiety. "Mister Fujioka," he began, not bothering to hide a frown. "How may I help you?"

"I think this is yours," Haruhi replied, and held Bereznoff up. With a sudden flash of movement the door swung open and Nekozawa snatched the doll from her, staring at it in disbelief, his eyes wide.

"Where did you find him?!" he asked excitedly. Under his cloak and wig, Haruhi could see an expression of sheer joy lighting Nekozawa's pale face. For some reason, her mind brought up a picture of the blond boy that hid beneath the cloak and shadows, for whom this expression seemed more appropriate. This was likely because the last time she had seen a similar expression on him was when he connected with his younger sister, Kirimi.

"Err... well..." She tried to come up with an explanation that wouldn't vilify Hikaru and Kaoru, even if they were the cause. "I found it in our most recent box of costumes..."

"Ah, so that's where he's been," he replied happily (to Haruhi's relief), "I did lose him in the Theater Club after all!"

He grinned at the cat puppet on his hand, his mood infinitely improved since he first opened the door. He was happy, and so, so was she. Her mission accomplished, she stepped back.

"Well, have a good day," Haruhi bowed politely and turned to leave.

"Fujioka, wait," Nekozawa called, and she stopped and turned towards him. His presence now was the same as it usually was; dark, shady, and sort of ridiculous. He beckoned towards her to come closer.

"You_ must_ let me _reward _you," he began eerily, a vicious smile on his lips, his eyes hidden under the dark strands of his wig. Haruhi's eyebrows rose in concern, but she smiled politely.

"No, that isn't necessary, really. Thank you anyhow." She began to back away, but to her surprise he grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward. Haruhi found herself staring from just inches away at Nekozawa's ominous grin, and Bereznoff's angry smile. It was very uncomfortable.

"I insist," he persisted. "You've done me a great service. Would you like use of an ancient relic of unfathomable power? Perhaps there's someone you would like cursed?"

"No, really-" She tried to pull away, but he still held her wrist.

"Maybe advice from your totem animal spirit? Or- I know! This one is a very popular choice. You would like your fortune told!"

"Really, I don't want anything," Haruhi insisted, becoming agitated. "I don't even believe in any of that stuff."

Nekozawa was undaunted. "No one does, at first, until they try it. Come! It won't take long!" And before she could protest again he had pulled her into the club room, shutting the door behind them.

As soon as they entered, he raised his arms triumphantly into the air, one hand still gripping Haruhi's wrist and the other sporting his recently reunited puppet. Several cloaked figures in the room burst into a round of applause. Haruhi's face fell in embarrassment.

"Everyone," Nekozawa began, addressing his club members, "Haruhi Fujioka has returned our wayward friend to us. As payment for services rendered, he has accepted a fortunetelling."

"I haven't accepted anything!" But her protest went unheard as a murmur of excitement rang through the club. She sighed heavily. It was beginning to occur to her that maybe this wasn't payment for anything, that Nekozawa just really wanted his club to participate in a fortunetelling, and she'd just happened to be there.

"What do you think?" Nekozawa released Haruhi's wrist and grinned at her, the candles that dimly lit the room casting dark, flickering shadows across his pale face. "Palm reading? Mahjong tiles? Tea leaves?"

"W-well... I guess I can't really get out of this..." A palm reading didn't sound like it required any tools so maybe it was quickest. "I'll try the palm reading..."

She was quickly pulled over to a small, round table with two chairs facing each other, and he gestured for her to take a seat, which she did.

Looking now around the room she noted about five members besides the club's president. Three were males, two were females, and all were dressed in black. "So what do you do here, anyhow?" Haruhi asked innocently, her curiosity towards the activities of this club finally compelling her. As long as she was here, it wouldn't hurt to be polite and conversive. "Learn how to do love spells and fortunetelling?"

"Oh, no," Nekozawa shook his head, smiling under his hood, seeming to take pleasure in her interest in his club. "It's much more than all that. We learn how to conjure and control _true_ magic. But not love magic. Shinobu, tell him why we don't do love magic."

He turned his attention towards a small figure who yelped and began to fidget nervously. He wasn't smiling now, and Haruhi guessed that this was a part of some lesson the girl was being taught in some private matter. It was possible, Haruhi thought, that the idea of love spells were what brought the young girl to this club.

"U-um...." the girl stammered, hiding her face with her hood, "B-because love is, um... good and light... and um.... casting a spell on them isn't really love... its control... and that's, um... bad..." She seemed to lose it a little at the end, her voice becoming smaller as her embarrassment grew. Haruhi stared at the nervous girl, who was blushing heavily and avoiding her gaze. Her hair was dark brown, her features mousey and shy. Suddenly a light bulb went off in Haruhi's head.

"Shinobu Kokoro!" She announced, and the girl flinched, lifting her head to gasp at Haruhi in humiliated horror. That action confirmed Haruhi's suspicion. Shinobu was one of Tamaki's regulars at the Host Club. Was it possible she joined the Black magic Club to learn how to use a love spell on Tamaki?

"I thought I recognized you," Haruhi continued, unaware of the girl's desire to remain anonymous. "I didn't know you were a member of this club."

"I... well, I..." she stammered under the pressure, as everyone's attention came to her. "I just joined recently... P-please don't tell Tamaki, Haruhi! I don't think he cares for this club.... he might... lose respect for me..."

She seemed to be shaking now. Was she really so dependent on what other people thought of her?

"Why would he lose respect for you?" Haruhi asked, tilting her head curiously. "What you like is what you like. It's yours and no one else's. This is your hobby. And anyone who looks down on you for it, you don't really need in your life. Right?"

She smiled at the girl, who looked back with an expression of understanding. Finally, Shinobu weakly smiled back in return.

"Fujioka is right," said one boy Haruhi didn't recognize. "You're having fun and to Hell with the rest of them."

"My grandma says to Hell with me if I keep this up," another boy added, and the rest of the club laughed. Haruhi could see their faces now. She didn't recognize any of them, but there wasn't anything creepy or weird about them. Haruhi laughed too, and found that she felt more relaxed after that. She was able to understand that under all the veils of mystery the club members hid behind, they were just students like her, bound together by this common interest. It was really no different from any other club. She turned towards Nekozawa, then, to discover that he was looking at her. He seemed curiously amused, and contemplative.

"Haruhi," he began, his voice startling her slightly, "Give me your hand."

Haruhi complied, holding her hand out wide. Brushing back his hood so it fell over his shoulders, he set Bereznoff aside and lightly took her hand in his own, tracing his fingertips gently across the lines worn into her palm. She suppressed a light shiver at the strange sensation.

"You have very feminine hands, Mister Fujioka," he commented, glancing up at her with a smirk. Haruhi scowled, blushing slightly, making him snicker at her reaction. He went back to contemplating her hand, focusing on it with great intensity. His club members surrounded him, their hoods also drawn back, entranced.

"You have a strong family connection," he began, brushing his finger along the side of her hand above her thumb. "Perhaps caused by a great personal tragedy that occurred right here, at the beginning of your life." Nekozawa gestured towards something on Haruhi's hand. She didn't know what she was supposed to be looking for, but the other students seemed to take great interest in it. Haruhi began to feel uncomfortable in how eerily accurate this was already turning out to be; but then, her mother's death was no secret. He could just be applying what he already knows about her to some things that could be easily deduced.

"You're life will have its rough points," he continued, "but it evens out as you find a comfortable place. You are also very intelligent. Aside of course from the common knowledge that you got into this school via a scholarship, you also have a fine tuned wisdom. An old soul. Others will often come to you for advice, which you often will give. Though, at the cost of many migraines," He indicated something else on her hand, and the others laughed. Again, this could easily be anyone's life. He was being sort of nonspecific so far. Although she was often sought after for advice. Still, that could be applying what he already knows about her again.

Nekozawa continued. "Your line of fate is solid and straight, suggesting that you've always known what you're going to do with your life, and that is exactly what you do with no deviation. As for your line of love..."

Everyone glanced at Haruhi briefly, before staring at her hand again with intent curiosity. Haruhi was a little bothered suddenly by how nosy everyone was turning out to be in her personal matters. Nekozawa glanced up at her then too, catching her eye. He smiled wryly before looking back down. There was a moment of silence as he traced the line. The air seemed to be sucked out of the room as he studied it. Everyone seemed so interested that Haruhi couldn't help but to stare at her own hand as well, as if hoping to see what they saw.

Then, slowly, Nekozawa's dark laughter filled the room, his face split in an unsettling grin. He closed her hand and drew away from her.

"Your life is about to change, Mister Fujioka," he stated darkly, and left it on that mysterious note. There was a moment of silence as everyone waited for someone to say something, until finally she realized he was done. Haruhi stood up.

"Well," she began, "That was very... informative." Except that last part. "Thank you for sharing your talent with me. I'm afraid I must be going now."

"You're welcome back anytime," He smiled eerily. "Our club is always accepting new members."

_That'll happen._

"Thank you for the invitation. I'll consider it." With a courteous nod towards Shinobu, Haruhi started towards the door.

"Uh! Um! H-Haruhi, wait!" She heard Shinobu call after her, and stopped. Painfully, she turned around. Was there nothing that would make this trip end? The other girl was fussing nervously with the edge of her skirt, avoiding Haruhi's eyes.

"Uh... well... You see... I... I'm not very good at palm readings..... but... I'm kinda good.... at tarot....." Her voice trailed off as she nervously glanced up at Haruhi, then away again. She cleared her throat. "S-so I thought... sometime you could let me practice... erm, with you.... But its okay if you don't want to. You can say no!" she added quickly at the end.

She was shaking, and seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. The other members shot Haruhi a threatening look that seemed to read _if you say the wrong thing, she WILL faint._ Haruhi sighed.

"Don't you practice with your friends?" she asked. Shinobu shook her head. "I don't want them to know I can do it until I'm really good at it. Then I'll surprise them. You see?" She looked up hopefully. Haruhi glanced towards Nekozawa, and noticed that he was pretending not to be paying attention at all, engrossing himself in lighting some taper candles. Obviously, he was listening.

"Well, I guess I can see the logic in that..." Haruhi started slowly. Shinobu's face lit up.

"So you will? Will you come by next week?"

"Er- well-"

Everyone was staring at her now. She tried to think of a way out of it, but without breaking Shinobu's innocent heart, nothing came to mind.

"...Well.... I guess if it's just one time..." Haruhi finally conceded with a defeated shrug. Shinobu squealed happily, her hands clasped together joyfully. "Thank you so much, Haruhi! It means the world to me!"

From across the room, Umehito Nekozawa grinned viciously at her, the light of the candle he was holding reflecting a clever glint in his eye.

"Welcome to the Black Magic Club, Haruhi Fujioka."

_How do I always get tricked into these clubs?_ She thought with a resigned sigh.


	2. Tarot Cards

Having no knowledge of the Black Magic Club besides their faces, except for Reiko Kanadzuki, I've finally conceded to make their names up. Once I am corrected I will gladly change them to what they are supposed to be, but until I am corrected I can no longer write an entire story of "he", "she", "they". Additionally, I need to invent them up a little personality. All of this of course is based solely on what they look like. I hope I'm not too off the mark. Also, Renge's fanfiction probably actually exists. I don't know; I'm not in that fandom. EDIT: I just found out that in volume nine, the Host Club actually _does_ a pirate theme. I still think I'm clever.

* * *

"Haru-Chan, Haru-Chan!" Hunny bounced excitedly up to Haruhi at their next meeting the moment the girl entered the room, "Did you really go? What was it like? Was it _scary?_"

"Was what scary?" Haruhi replied, trying to remember if there had been anything she'd done this week that could have possibly been considered frightening in any way.

"The Black Magic Club!" Hunny answered, hugging Bun-Bun tighter as if for comfort. Instantly that meeting came to mind and replayed in Haruhi's memory.

"Oh, that," she replied. "That was nothing. I just gave Nekozawa back his doll. You'd want someone to return yours, right?" she added to Hunny, giving him something to ponder and a chance for her to slip past him into the room.

"Is that a fact?" a pair of voices chimed in surround sound as the twins appeared on either side of her, their arms around her slim shoulders. They grinned diabolically.

"They didn't make you participate in any weird rituals?" Hikaru goaded devilishly.

"Or sacrifice a goat to some dark god?" Kaoru added with a smirk. Haruhi rolled her eyes, her face deadpan.

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," she replied, distancing herself from them and opting out of their ridiculous inquisition.

"Oh, really?" she heard them ask from behind, a knowing smirk clear in their voices, "Then what happened after he pulled you into his club room and shut the door?"

Somewhere across the room, Tamaki's ears perked.

"Were you _following_ me?!" Haruhi turned fiercely towards them, clearly enraged.

"Of course," they replied nonchalantly with a shrug, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We wanted to see what he did."

In a sudden flash of movement, Tamaki was in front of Haruhi, gripping her shoulders protectively with a look of sheer abject horror on his face.

"Haruhi, what have you done?!" he shouted in a very serious panic. "He didn't do anything, did he?! Like cast a spell on you or curse you and your entire family for generations to come?! You didn't eat or drink anything he offered, did you?! SPIT IT OUT! SPIT IT OUT, HARUHI!" He began shaking her violently as he continued, perhaps hoping to somehow rid her of any lingering curse on her clothing.

"S-senpai, please stop," she coolly requested of him, her face betraying her irritation. "You're overreacting."

"What would compel a nice girl like you to face down the gate to Hell?!" he continued dramatically. "What sort of daughter have I raised?!"

"I bet it looked like a dungeon!" Hunny offered unhelpfully, as it only served to bring an image to Tamaki's mind of chains and manacles.

"No, nothing like that..." Haruhi's voice went unheard as the Hitachiin brothers began to giggle and Tamaki turned quickly towards Kyouya with tearful eyes.

"Discipline her! No, wait! Do _something_!" Tamaki commanded. Kyouya adjusted his glasses.

"It's nearly time for our clients to arrive, Tamaki," he noted. "We should be getting ready."

The club president paused at this. After a brief moment, he drew his posture up elegantly and smiled radiantly at his club members- his attitude now turned completely around.

"Of course! We have a responsibility towards the beautiful ladies that will soon grace us with their presence! Come, we must prepare!"

"Right away, Tono!" The Hitachiin brothers saluted in mock respect, but nonetheless began towards the costume box where they had initially found Bereznoff.

Haruhi sighed in relief at the attention being lifted from her, and secretly blessed Kyouya for saving her from that irritating situation. At least Tamaki's personality was manic enough that he could only seem to focus on one subject at a time.

It occurred to her though, as her eyes met Kyouya's while he handed her the week's costume, to hope that he didn't expect her to owe him for the rescue.

Due to popular request, this week's theme was a little more roguish than their usual standard. It seemed to be big in popular culture outside of the school, so as the Third Music Room's doors opened that day and the young girls excitedly filed in, they were astounded to discover that the Host Club had finally agreed to a celebration of piracy.

Tamaki seemed to be having a great time, fulfilling the romantic fantasies of many young women who'd read too many trashy romance novels about dashing young swashbucklers who would whisk them away for a life of adventure on the open sea. With his long, gold trimmed crimson captain's coat and remarkable hat, his classmates were unanimously decided to be sort of amazed with how well he could wear anything he put on. Belted around his waist was an antique flintlock pistol (once fully functional but now completely broken for accident prevention) and an impressively constructed but completely fake cutlass.

"Tamaki-Taisa," a girl breathed, blushing furiously, "A pirate's life is so perilous! What do you hope to achieve?"

He replied by taking her chin gently in his fingers and tilting her face towards his own, softly smiling and yet dangerously inviting. "I would face down all the worst hazards of the sea for a chance to steal the greatest treasure of them all; a kiss from you."

The girls swooned and blushed around him, sighing dreamily. Haruhi was at a loss as to how easily he could come up with that stuff.

In her own blue waistcoat, tricorner hat and belted sash, Haruhi had managed to gather her own crowd of gossiping girls. Included in this circle was Renge, who apparently had a previously unheard of pirate fetish.

"You look so great!" She smiled broadly, "Right out of a seventeenth century sea port! It's just like in that movie! You know after it came out, I wrote a fanfiction about Jack and Will, but after I saw the second movie I changed my OTP to Jack slash Norrington, with Norrington as seme!"

The other girls squealed delightfully and demanded the web address of where they could read this story. Haruhi meanwhile, having never seen the movie, was at a complete loss as to what the hell they were talking about. All she could focus on was how hot and itchy her costume was.

_Really, how did pirates get anything done in jackets like these? I can barely move._

"Haruhi-Kun," one of her clients addressed her with concern, drawing Haruhi's attention, "You look uncomfortable... is the costume hard to wear?..."

"Er... no, it's not that," Haruhi stumbled as she was brought back to the conversation.

"Do you not like pirates?" the girl continued questioningly.

"I don't know about not liking them," Haruhi explained, "but I don't know why they represent freedom. Life on the sea must have been hard. They were away for months at a time from their home and their families... and sometimes they didn't even come back. It's sort of sad."

The other girls sighed. "How thoughtful of you!" they declared sincerely.

"Speaking of 'not coming back'," Renge began with a mischievous spark in her eye, "I heard that Haruhi visited a different club earlier this week. Were you thinking of switching?"

The other girls suddenly stared at Haruhi in concern, their hands clasped together at their hearts in distress.

"Were you really thinking of leaving the Host Club?" one girl asked, tearfully.

"No, not at all..." Haruhi explained, trying to wave away the very idea. "I was just visiting someone..."

"Oh?" Renge asked slyly, activating her inherent ability to find slash in anything. "And who were you visiting?"

The others now looked on with great interest, making Haruhi very uncomfortable. "I was just running a favor," she replied clearly. "I have no intention of going back."

It was then that she heard a throat clear behind her, and a terrible feeling swept through her body. Turning her head, her blood froze when she saw exactly what she had feared; Shinobu was standing there behind her, her face hidden under her long, mousey hair. Her hands were gripping the front of her dress so hard her knuckles had turned white.

"Ah... um... H-Haruhi..." she began, trembling, "I'd just come to... remind you, um... but its okay. Nevermind!"

She then turned quickly and fled from the room, to Haruhi's surprise. Tamaki appeared beside Haruhi, having witnessed the display, watching as Shinobu ran.

"She looks distraught," he remarked. "We should go after her-"

"No, this is my fault," Haruhi sighed. "I'll take care of it. Don't worry about it, Senpai."

A humming sound brought Haruhi's attention back to her clients, where she discovered Renge looking thoughtful.

"Suppression of true feelings?.." Renge pondered aloud with a smile. "Perhaps _this_ is why Haruhi visited another club last week."

The other girls looked at Haruhi, astonished.

"Really? With _her_?" one began.

"Haruhi is a _nice_ boy, maybe he likes a _nice_ girl." another continued.

"But she's so... very plain!"

"Haruhi sees _through_ that, into her very _soul_, where she's a beautiful, pure-hearted person who arranges flowers and takes care of her grandmother on the weekends!"

"But she's shy, and gets teased! And he met her when he saved her from some bullies!"

The girls sighed wistfully.

"None of that is actually true..." Tamaki attempted weakly to explain, but was ignored by the girls who decidedly preferred their version of the situation.

"Forget it," Haruhi advised, irritated. "My life is their shoujo manga."

But despite the churning of the rumor mill around the club, Haruhi still felt guilty about Shinobu. She hadn't meant to hurt her feelings, or imply that she wasn't going to fulfill her promise. The only way she could make it up to her was to show up at the next Black Magic Club meeting like she said she would, and apologize there.

And so, after class later that week, Haruhi once again found herself in the school's theater department, standing before the clubroom doors with resignation. It happened to be that both the Black Magic Club and her own club met today, so she knew that she couldn't stay long. But still she did not feel hurried. As long as she actually showed up to the Host Club, Tamaki would not raise a fuss, and Kyouya would not add to her debt (she never heard him say that missed club days would result in a higher debt, but she was sure that it was true).

With a heavy sigh, she knocked.

The door swung open, seemingly on its own (but Haruhi suspected somebody was just standing behind it, out of sight). A streak of light from the hall slid across the dark room's floor, and she slipped in quietly. The door closed behind her, shutting out the light. As Haruhi's eyes adjusted to the dim candlelight, she slowly began to make out the forms of the club's members.

"Welcome." Haruhi jumped in surprise as Nekozawa appeared suddenly behind her, seeming to materialize out of thin air (it then occurred to her that he was probably the one behind the door). The club president smiled darkly at her from under his hood, his puppet perched in his hand. "We're glad you came."

"Well I'll be damned," one boy exclaimed, turning to another club member with a playful grin, "He actually came. Seems I owe you a Coke."

"Please have a seat." Nekozawa gestured towards a dark red, gothic Victorian loveseat. "We're still awaiting your diviner."

_How gaudy,_ Haruhi thought to herself as she looked in distaste at the furniture, but nonetheless nodded in greeting to her host and graciously accepted his offer. Across from her in an elegant armchair, a girl with long black hair and piercing dark eyes was staring at her, expressionless. Two boys were chatting idly behind a couch, and a third was sitting beside a candle, reading _The Collected Works of Shakespeare_. All of them were once again dressed in black.

"You'll have to forgive Jun and Tokumi," Nekozawa began as he approached her, gesturing towards the pair behind the couch with an apologetic half smile. "But you see, we weren't certain you would actually return this week. I'm delighted to see you're an honest person, Mister Fujioka," He smiled, and while Haruhi was confident that he was smiling very earnestly, it was a bit difficult to separate his good intentions from his sinister countenance.

"I said I would be here," she replied plainly, "And so I am. If I wasn't going to, I would have told you that. It's unreasonable to lie."

"That's a very noble attitude. I can appreciate that," he replied sincerely. He looked up at her, and for a moment, through the inky locks of hair falling over his face, she saw one of his eyes, and it was smiling, too.

The door opened a crack, and Nekozawa turned quickly away from the sudden light, shielding his eyes with Bereznoff, as Shinobu slipped in and closed the door.

"Ah, am I last again? My last class is so far from the clubroom..." she began as she hurried over to the group, smiling brightly. But as she glanced up at Haruhi, her smile instantly vanished and she stopped dead in her tracks.

"H-...Haruhi... I, I thought you weren't coming..."

Haruhi stood up and faced the trembling girl and bowed. "I'm very sorry if I offended you, Miss Kokoro. I'm afraid you misunderstood the situation."

"Ah! Um, no... I, um..." Shinobu began to fidget, blushing. For a moment she seemed unable to speak, and may have stood there trembling for quite some time if the club president had not finally placed a tender hand on her back and lead her to a seat, allowing the girl a moment to compose herself.

"And now," Nekozawa began, smiling eerily as he picked up a candelabra and placed it on the table between Shinobu and Haruhi, the light flickering across their faces, "I believe Mister Fujioka has some business with you. _Would you like to begin?_" The last sentence was spoken with such an ominous air to it that one could easily imagine an aura of demons surrounding him. It occurred to Haruhi that at such a moment, her own club would certainly feel a cold shiver. But this club- Shinobu included- seemed oblivious to it. Perhaps they all spoke that way sometimes -though probably no one could do it with quite the _panache_ as their president. She wondered, as Shinobu withdrew a tarot deck from her book bag, if Nekozawa enjoyed when he frightened people, or if he'd just come to accept it as part of who he was.

_He probably enjoys it, or he wouldn't visit the Host Club so often..._

"Haruhi, would you please shuffle these? And, please concentrate during the reading," Shinobu requested, placing a deck of cards in front of her. Haruhi did as she was told and shuffled the deck, but wasn't certain what she should be concentrating on.

_The cards, I suppose,_ she thought, and attempted to do that as she cut the deck and slid it back across the table to Shinobu. As the rest of the club watched, the nervous young girl began to lie out the cards. Haruhi watched as she did so, but found the experience a little unnecessary, and at some point her mind began to wander into to realms of what she ought to make for dinner tonight.

_Dad'll be at work, so it's just me tonight... we still have some instant ramen, but I just had that not so long ago... maybe I'll see what's on sale at the store..._

"...Called the 'Celtic Cross' layout, it's very standard but it's considered the most useful of..."

_...I think the B&B is having a special on tuna, if I can get there before the store closes..._

"...This is behind you... This is before you... This is yourself..."

And in such a manner it continued, until Haruhi remembered that she was supposed to be paying attention and focused on Shinobu's fortunetelling.

She was vaguely impressed with the girl's level of concentration; it was one of the first times she'd seen Shinobu so confident. Shinobu was truly in her element in this club, even if the whole thing was sort of ridiculous. Although Haruhi was willing to admit she was probably supposed to be concentrating and not spacing out, and that it may have been a contributor to the outcome. The fact was Haruhi saw almost no truth in the spread and considered the whole thing a waste of time. Except for a few cards giving descriptions about her past and current state, which if she really thought about them she could make them fit, the rest were all rubbish, particularly all the cards designed to predict her future, as most of them just said something about an upcoming or future romance.

_Unless that's referring to Tamaki's never-ending quest to make me (and every other girl in the school) fall in love with him, I don't see any possibility of a love life happening while I'm in high school- particularly since I'm dressed as a boy._

"...and finally, the outcome: the accumulative statement of the whole spread. The two of cups- love and friendship. It seems the theme of your spread today was harmonious connections. That's very fortunate for you, Haruhi!" Shinobu smiled brightly. Haruhi forced a smile in return.

_'Love and friendship'? Oh, God- my life_ IS _their shoujo manga._

"Ah, that's very good, Miss Kokoro. You do have a talent for this sort of thing. I'm sure you could do this at parties."

"S-so, what did you think? Did it sound right? Do you agree with it?" she asked, timidity returning to her voice.

"W-well..." Haruhi began a bit awkwardly, "I don't think you did anything wrong, but it probably didn't help you that I really don't believe in this sort of thing, so my future was probably not in those cards."

"Oh, no!" Shinobu shook her head, "It doesn't matter to these cards if you believe or not, they'll still tell you the truth. Right, Senpai?" She looked hopefully over at the dark haired girl with the vacant eyes. When the girl did not respond, Shinobu turned back to Haruhi excitedly. "Reiko-Senpai gave me these cards. She says they work better when they're a gift."

"Er, that's very generous of her."

"Of course Fujioka got the wrong fortune," a boy suddenly announced, scooping up the tarot cards on the table to Shinobu's horror. "You did it the LONG way. I'll show you a shortcut!"

"No! No! Jun, please don't!" Shinobu pleaded. The boy called Jun laughed devilishly.

"Ready? Goes like this..."

"NO! Don't do it! _Stop!_"

"BANZAI!" He then threw all the cards up into the air, scattering them. As they fluttered to the carpet, he snatched one arbitrarily out of the air and held it up.

"Ten of pentacles. Wassat mean, Shinobu?"

"W-wealth and inheritance. I've told you before not to throw my things!" she shouted furiously. Jun grinned.

"Ooh, I got a good one. Oh, don't look so upset. Here, I'll pick them up." He did, though carelessly, but did not hand them back. Instead, he glanced over at Nekozawa with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"Umehito! _Think fast!_" Jun announced and threw them all into the air again at his president. Shinobu shrieked as Nekozawa plucked a card from the air, not even flinching. Jun laughed and finally the boy in the corner, ignored up until this point, snapped his book shut in irritation.

"_Lord, what fools these mortals be_," he rolled his eyes and glared over at the club's troublemaker. "How unrefined. Honestly, have you no dignity? Carry yourself with a little more elegance, instead of running around causing havoc and mayhem, like some sort of Japanese _Robin Goodfellow_."

"You only said that because you want to sound all smart and knowledgeable, you jerk. Why don't you learn to lighten up a little, Taro?"

"Bite your tongue! I can have a good time without destroying the private property of others," Taro declared in distaste. He looked sincerely over to Shinobu. "Pay him no heed. _That he's mad, 'tis true, 'tis true 'tis a pity, and a pity 'tis true, 'tis true_."

"Shut UP with your stupid Shakespeare, Taro! Nobody _cares!_"

"No, no, please don't fight!" Shinobu sounded on the verge of tears, "I can pick them up! It's okay!"

Haruhi chose this moment to quietly slip away. She had her own club meeting to attend anyhow, and they didn't seem to need her anymore here. Standing up, she backed towards the door as unnoticeably as possible. But just as she reached the door and put her fingers on the handle, a pale, slender hand reached out and gripped her wrist.

"Making your escape?" Nekozawa grinned eerily in the darkness.

"I have to get to the Host Club," Haruhi explained, completely undaunted by his sudden appearance or his spooky demeanor. "This fight doesn't seem to be any business of mine."

"I understand. I just wanted to thank you for attending, and invite you to return anytime you like."

"No, thank you."

Nekozawa flinched with a ready smile. "That didn't take you long to decide. Nonetheless, I'll be giving you this." He slid his hand down her wrist and into her palm, where he deposited a small, wooden Bereznoff-shaped keychain. Haruhi held it up, unimpressed.

"I don't really need this," she confessed, politely replacing 'want' with the word 'need'. It was a gift, after all. A smile split Nekozawa's face as he slightly lowered his head, looking at her from under his hood.

"You've attended two meetings now, Mister Fujioka," he explained cryptically. "That makes you _one of us_."

"But I have no interest in your club." _And I don't owe you anything. _"It's probable that I won't return. Therefore, this token binds me to nothing," Haruhi explained very simply.

"It isn't meant to _bind_ you," Nekozawa laughed, "There's no spell on it. It only serves as a reminder of your time spent with us, and signifies our acceptance of you."

"Oh!" She seemed to make a connection, "So it's like a friendship bracelet."

Nekozawa seemed confused. "Um... No, it's a keychain... I told you, there's no spell on it."

_Ah, of course not,_ she thought, biting her cheek. _No one would wear a friendship bracelet here._

"Nevermind. But, why do you want me to have this?"

Unexpectedly, Nekozawa then drew back his hood, providing her with slightly more visual access to his face. He then lifted her hand, holding the keychain between their fingers with an earnest smile.

"Please accept it," he asked her, his hopeful blue eyes shining through the dark locks of hair that fell over them. Haruhi found herself momentarily stunned by this action. From Tamaki or the twins she might have expected it, but from Nekozawa it seemed very sudden and uncharacteristic. There was a very timid charisma about him.

"...I suppose it wouldn't hurt," she finally conceded. The keychain _was_ sort of cute, in a weird way.

Nekozawa smiled, and raised Haruhi's hand up to his lips chivalrously- then, seeming to change his mind, stopped and switched their hand positions into a firm handshake. He then stepped back, leaving the tiny Bereznoff in her hand.

Glancing back into the room showed that there was still a fight in progress, so Haruhi decided not to announce her exit. "Give Shinobu my regards," she sighed, putting her hand back on the door handle.

"Gladly," he agreed. "Oh, and one more thing..."

She stopped as with a mischievous smile, he held up a card; it was the tarot card he'd grabbed when Jun had thrown them in the air. It was the two of cups.

"'Love and Friendship', right?" he grinned. "The same as yours. Perhaps that means we share a similar fate? Well, I'll let you draw your own interpretations. Have a good evening, Haruhi."

He then turned away from her, back to his quarreling club. Haruhi watched him curiously and slightly puzzled for a moment before finally exiting the room.


	3. Playing Cards

A.N.: Did anyone else notice how the character dropdown doesn't feature Nekozawa? I tried to apply to have his name added but I seem to be being ignored. So if anyone else wants to give that a try…

Incidentally, I have an awesome new beta now, so three cheers to Leafygirl. Between the two of us we've fixed chapters one and two, so some changes have been made if you care to re-check.

Woo, transitional chapter!

* * *

It had been nearly two weeks since Haruhi had attended the meeting with the Black Magic Club, or seen any of its members- with the exception of Shinobu Kokoro, who would sometimes visit the Host Club. But then, Shinobu would mostly designate herself to Tamaki, and while she would wave at Haruhi and smile timidly from across the room, she never went to sit with her. Haruhi wasn't certain if it was out of shyness or disinterest, but it really didn't matter anyhow. After explaining to Tamaki that Haruhi had spoken to Shinobu about the incident the other week, when the distraught girl fled in tears after misunderstanding something Haruhi had said, she was able to convince her club president that everything was fine and there was no cause for alarm. Afterward, Tamaki had paid special attention to Shinobu for one afternoon, much to her delight, and there were no hard feelings. No one knew that Haruhi had gone to Nekozawa's club a second time, and she preferred to keep it that way- not because it was a secret, but because she knew that Tamaki and the twins would probably make a bigger fuss about it than was really necessary.

Despite her loss of contact with Nekozawa and his club (not that it really concerned her), she did keep the tiny Bereznoff keychain he had given her. After all, it had been a gift given with entirely good intentions, or so she had been lead to believe. And besides, it did actually help her pull out her house keys when she fished around in her pocket and gripped the small wooden cat. Functionality saved the trinket from the bottom of a drawer to remain in her everyday life. Anyone who would have recognized it had yet to notice.

It was two weeks to the day of her last visit, on the day both clubs held their respective conferences. The last of the young women were leaving the third music room, still blushing brightly from their meeting with their preferred hosts, and the club members were talking amongst themselves before calling it a night. Hunny and Mori were the first to leave, as they had training every day after school, followed quickly by Kyouya, who just wanted to go home, leaving the room to Tamaki, Haruhi, and the Hitachiin twins.

"Haaa-ru-hiiii!" a pair of playful voices chimed as the girl suddenly found herself once again flanked on either side, "What are you doing this weekend?"

"Homework and housekeeping," Haruhi replied easily, stepping away from them with a blank expression on her face.

"That's dull," they replied in unison. Hikaru grinned to the left of her. "You should come over to our place, instead!"

"That is _outrageously_ inappropriate!" Tamaki quickly objected, pulling the startled girl away from them and into his arms and crushing her against his chest. "I won't have you two ruffians harassing my daughter!"

"No one will _harass_ her," Kaoru denied, "We just want to _play_ with her."

"If you don't mind, I have a train to catch," Haruhi excused herself, ignoring her company.

"Haruhi! Promise you won't go with them this weekend!" Tamaki called in a panic.

"I promise," she quickly replied, her face deadpan.

"Oh, I see," Kaoru began with a malicious gleam in his eye. "Tono, you want Haruhi to go to _your _house this weekend, don't you?"

"Arrange some alone time?" Hikaru continued, feigning being scandalized, "How _dirty_!"

"I- How- What- _Nothing of the sort!_" Tamaki protested in obvious humiliation, his face red, the brothers' provocation having clearly succeeded in flustering their president. "-I would never be so unrefined as to- unless of course, Haruhi, you WANTED to come over this weekend- but you would be perfectly- it wouldn't be anything like- like- like THEM!"

"Have a good weekend, Senpai," she dismissed, turning her back to his exaggerated despair.

"Are you listening, Kaoru?" Hikaru began, nodding slyly towards his twin. "He can't even deny it. His intentions are completely impure."

"Mmm, you're right, Hikaru," Kaoru agreed thoughtfully. "And he thinks Haruhi should worry about _us_. How _tragic_."

"Did someone say _magic_...?"

The door opened, saving Tamaki from one Hell but throwing him into another as a dark shadow swept into the room, chilling the air and causing him to stumble back in terror while greeted by a sinister smile and a grinning cat puppet.

"...If you're looking for magic, you _must_ come to the Black Magic Club," Nekozawa continued ominously as he entered the room, followed, to the Host Club's surprise, by two of his other club members in matching black hooded robes pulled down over their faces. "We're having a special this week on _blood magic_, for extra-potent, extra-long lasting curses, guaranteed to follow through for generations to come, or your money back. Don't delay! Act today!"

"I knew this day would come!" Tamaki exclaimed dramatically, frozen in shock. "Away! Back, you devil! I don't _have_ the blood you crave!"

"Are you so sure we're here for you, Suoh-Kun?" Nekozawa glanced darkly over in Tamaki's direction, smirking black-heartedly. "But of course it's possible that blood of your... _breeding_ may come in quite handy, so if you would just accompany us down to the nurse's office..."

"_Waugh_! Call a priest!"

Two beams of light suddenly shot towards Tamaki's tormentor. Startled, Nekozawa fell back with a shriek, into his club members as the Hitachiin twins held their flashlights steadily on him.

"Your skin is an unhealthy color, Nekozawa. It's sort of grotesque."

"You should think about a tanning salon. I hear they make vast improvements in the safety of those things all the time."

"Hey, quit that!" a black robed boy whom Haruhi recognized to be Jun shouted at the twins, shielding his president who was muttering indecipherable curses from behind him, cowering painfully. "We have a reason to be here!"

Haruhi sighed. "Perhaps it would have been a good idea to start with that, then." Haruhi shook her head unsympathetically. The twins flicked off their flashlights.

Drawing upright, Nekozawa attempted to compose himself, though a few smell beads of sweat were now obvious on his face. He scowled at the twins, who were clearly unimpressed, having decided that now the most interesting thing would be to see what he does next.

"As he said," he began, "We are not without purpose today. A sacred ritual has been planned for tomorrow night, but as it is, we're down by one _body_. So we've come to make an _arrangement_." He grinned menacingly from under his hood, waving Bereznoff at the Host Club as if the doll was part of his committee. Tamaki swallowed his breath as Nekozawa glanced at each of them.

"Now, there's no need to jump to volunteer," he quickly continued, "as we've already chosen which host we will be designating. And how lucky for us! He's _still here_."

On that ominous cue, Nekozawa's two club members beside him suddenly dashed forward in a black flash. Hooking their arms under Haruhi's, they sped out the door, taking the bewildered girl with them, and leaving the rest of the Host Club in puzzled shock.

"HARUHI!" Tamaki shouted in surprise. He started towards the door, when Nekozawa held up Bereznoff in what could be assumed to be a halting gesture.

"If you go after him now, I promise we will _curse_ you for a lifetime. We'll return your club member unharmed and with probably very little emotional trauma, as long as you don't interfere. Understand? -Good, I'm glad we could come to this agreement." Before they could object, he backed quickly out of the room and down the hall towards Ouran's art wing. Tamaki turned furiously towards Kaoru and Hikaru.

"This is _entirely_ your fault for stealing that puppet! Now he's CURSING us by kidnapping Haruhi! Who knows what monstrous things they'll do!" he accused in a horrified frenzy.

"Don't worry about Haruhi, Tono," Kaoru waved dismissingly, unaffected. "She's a capable girl. She can handle herself."

"Maybe we should have kept that flashlight on him, though," Hikaru thought aloud.

Elsewhere, the Black Magic Club finally released their captive just outside the backstage door in the theater department. Their original goal was to meet outside their club office, but as neither of them were used to strenuous physical exertion, they decided that_ near_ their club was a good enough spot to stop and catch their breath.

"What is going on? What is this about?" Haruhi demanded. One boy held up a finger to indicate that he needed a moment, panting as he leaned against a wall.

"Good sir," he began, revealing himself as Taro, "If you would..." (pant, pant) "...be so kind as to..." (pant, gasp) "...to... uh... MAN, I should have joined an athletic club..."

"These stupid things are hot as Hell!" Jun complained, throwing off his robe and sitting against the wall to rest.

"I see you don't abduct people often," Haruhi observed dryly. The sound of footsteps drew their attention down the hall, where Nekozawa rounded a corner and approached them.

"Ah! I'm glad you could make it, Fujioka," he smiled pleasantly at Haruhi.

"As if I had a choice!" she shot back, enraged. "May I ask why you dragged me here? But please make it quick, I have a train to catch."

"Then we won't waste your time," Nekozawa began seriously, pulling his hood back over his shoulders. He cleared his throat.

"As a club event, the Black Magic Club purchased tickets to see a theatrical production that will be presented tomorrow evening."

"By a very renowned director," Taro quickly added. Nekozawa continued.

"…But just yesterday, Miss Kokoro informed us that she will be unable to attend. Apparently, her parents have some rules about who she is seen in public with. In any case, as a result, we now have an extra ticket, and she has selected YOU to be her replacement."

"I'll pass."

Nekozawa bit his lip. "You don't take time to consider things, do you?" he laughed uneasily, with a trace of disappointment at how quick she was to reject his offer. "We went to a great deal of effort to invite you..."

"I thank you for the invitation but I've made plans to study this weekend, and there are some dishes that need to be done," she politely explained. "Shinobu can ask someone else, I'm sure they'd be happy to come."

"But, you see..." Nekozawa brushed his bangs aside to look into her eyes, so that she could see his sincerity. And she could. "We _agreed_ on you, Haruhi. We don't intend to invite anyone else. We _like_ you," he smiled. He then quickly added, "Plus, you may be the only one who can stand to be in our company for more than three minutes at a time."

"We're sort of universally rejected," Jun agreed with resignation. "But you came to two meetings and didn't even buy anything, so we sort of unofficially inducted you into the club."

"Don't say it like that! It sounds like we want him in the 'Loser Club'!" Taro snapped, elbowing Jun in the side.

"You're the only member of the 'Loser Club'," Jun muttered. "Ponce."

"Look, I don't need to be in any more clubs!" Haruhi explained, throwing up her hands defensively. "I have a lot of work to do, my own club aside. Thank you again, but I have a train to catch. Good afternoon." With a polite bow, she turned away and proceeded down the hall. Undaunted, Nekozawa followed, aware that Haruhi was doing her best to ignore him, scowling visibly.

"Let me just ask one question, Fujioka," Nekozawa began from behind her, matching her steps. "Just to make it clear, you're rejecting our invitation because you're too busy, and NOT because you have a strong aversion to spending time with the Black Magic Club?"

"You don't particularly bother me," she replied nonchalantly, her eyes staring ahead of her. "No more than anyone in the Host Club. I just have no interest in seeing a play tomorrow."

A smile stretched across his face; his disappointment lifted with this new bit of information. "So, as I see it, our case isn't hopeless. If it isn't us, it's time constraints. You're afraid you won't get any studying done, but isn't it true that some classes offer extra credit if you write an essay on a novel you've read or a play you've seen outside of class? So isn't it possible that you could use this opportunity as an excuse to improve your grade...?"

_That was sly, approaching this on an academic level,_ Haruhi thought as she slowed down to consider his words. But it wasn't completely without merit. She had a literature class that she could easily earn a few extra marks in for such an essay. She'd just never considered it before because she assumed seeing a play was something she would never have the opportunity to do, and was never bothered by it.

Encouraged by seeing that she was reflecting on his words, Nekozawa began to think with satisfaction that he might actually pull this off. If all went according to plan, he might have Haruhi Fujioka on his list of allies in this school- which was a depressingly short list.

"Please don't say no, you have nothing to lose," he continued, determined to win. "How about if before the show we buy you dinner?"

She stopped walking. He stopped several paces behind her. She didn't turn around.

"I don't need you to buy me anything," she replied curtly.

"It's not a bribe, it's a thank you gift," he responded carefully, approaching her slowly. "From Shinobu. And, from me, for returning Bereznoff, where others would have thrown him away."

He was directly behind her now, separated by merely inches. There was a long pause, while he waited in anticipation for her decision.

Finally, Haruhi sighed, and turned to look up at him in defeat. "What is this play?"

Nekozawa smiled jubilantly. "It's called _The Woman in Black_," he began excitedly. "You won't regret this. I swear that on this cursed doll, Bereznoff." The puppet waved at her, and Haruhi shook her head, somewhat overwhelmed.

_How do I keep ending up in these situations?_ She berated herself.

"We'll come for you at five tomorrow evening," he explained, backing away with a victorious smile. "I look forward to it, Haruhi."

Without responding, she turned away and left the theater department. Nekozawa watched until she had turned the corner and was out of sight before returning to his peers.

Haruhi Fujioka was a well-respected person at the school, practical and agreeable, and had many fans- as well the attention of Tamaki Suoh. Despite Fujioka's rather low class, the impression she left on others- on very powerful people- was astounding. A dark, rather malicious part of Nekozawa, a part of him that viewed Tamaki as somewhat of a rival, wanted to capture Haruhi's attention just to frustrate the Host Club president, to see how their relationship changed, to force Suoh to acknowledge him as more of a social threat than he appeared. But mostly, Nekozawa was intensely curious as to what Haruhi's power was over the Host Club, why they were all so determined to keep her, to impress her. Was it just because, as a scholarship student, they were all fascinated by their difference in class and upbringing? Could that explain why the entire club so obviously doted on her?

Nekozawa resolved to find out. Haruhi had some power, and he wanted a part of it.

"So?" Jun asked casually, leaning against the wall, "How'd it go? What'd he say?"

Nekozawa grinned, pulling his hood back over his wig, shadowing his eyes. "He'll come."

"Wonderful news! Shinobu will be pleased," Taro smiled delightedly. He then smirked wryly at his club president. "And perhaps she will not be alone in her joy?"

Nekozawa raised an eyebrow at him while Jun snickered. "Implying...?"

"Camaraderie, of course!" Taro was quick to respond cheerily. "It would be nice if he DID join our club, wouldn't it? _'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, this day shall gentle his condition'_."

"That would indeed be interesting," Nekozawa replied. "We'll see. It's time to go, now. Let's lock up the club room."

"_'With duty and desire we follow you'_," Taro smiled, falling in step behind his president as Jun retrieved his robe.


	4. Dominoes

Haruhi is very difficult to write… especially since I never know what pronoun to address her as. Few of the people in my story know she's a girl, but for all intents and purposes, she is. So unless someone is directly speaking to or of her, out loud or as internal dialogue and not character exposition, I will probably refer to Haruhi as "she".

Thanks again to the awesomeness of my beta, Leafygirl.

* * *

After conferencing with one of her literature professors, Haruhi had it confirmed that, yes, she would get extra credit if she wrote an essay about a play she'd gone to see. For a moment, she had sort of half-hoped that none of her teachers would agree to the assignment so she could find a loophole to her engagement with the Black Magic Club. But finding no excuse, she once again resigned herself to her fate.

But to be fair, she could think of worse ways to spend a Saturday night. Really, the whole thing wasn't so bad; she would get a free meal and a free show, and none of her companions knew she was a girl so there would most likely be no unnecessary flirting. She would have liked to stay home and catch up on some chores, perhaps read a book, but just maybe the evening wouldn't be a total loss.

With that semi-optimistic mindset, she awaited her ride, which had promised to be there at five. It had taken her slightly longer than it usually did to dress for the occasion, because, one: she didn't know how formal of an event this was, and two: she sort of needed to maintain that she was a boy. To show up now in a skirt would raise a lot of questions, ultimately leading to her exposure, and endangering her role in the Host Club, which for financial purposes, she needed to keep safe. So, after much consideration, she ended up with the nicest, most androgynous outfit she could find: A pair of clean black slacks and a white button-up shirt with a cheap but attractive coat. Underneath, she was wearing a beige colored sports bra, just to be safe. Finally dressed, Haruhi sat down to study for a little while before her ride arrived.

At about five after five, (according to her watch,) she heard a car pull up outside, and heard a neighbor gasp "_Wow!_ What sort of car is _that?_"

As Haruhi slammed the book shut, she realized that she had one hope for this evening, just one.

_Please don't let the car be a hearse. Please don't let the car be a hearse. Oh please…_

Gathering her courage, she pulled open her front door. Nekozawa was approaching on the walkway, and behind him was a black Rolls Royce. She breathed a sigh of relief. While she considered the car to be a little extravagant, Haruhi had somewhat come to accept it as normal within the Host Club, but she didn't know what was considered normal _outside_ said club necessarily, and was glad to at least see something she recognized to common within high society. Haruhi then glanced back down to her escort and paused.

To her surprise, Nekozawa looked very nice. He was still wearing the black wig, but the ominous cloak was gone. In its place was a finely tailored, black, slightly low collared silk shirt with cuffs that extended over his knuckles, and one could dare say flattering black pants. Haruhi was surrounded at all times in the Host Club by beautiful men and she'd grown so accustomed to them all that she barely noticed anymore, but with Nekozawa it was different somehow. It was a rare sight, and she couldn't help but be a little amazed by it.

"Good evening, Fujioka," He smiled a little eerily, "are you ready?"

"Ah, yeah," Haruhi replied quickly, pulling her attention back towards his face suddenly with mild embarrassment as she realized she'd been staring. Nekozawa smirked.

"You look well," he began as she proceeded down the steps. "I like the, um…" There was a pause, as he seemed to struggle for a word. "…coat."

"Thank you," Haruhi replied a little blandly, knowing that he'd forced that compliment, but nonetheless added "you, too."

Nekozawa smiled and nodded courteously to her as the driver opened the door for them. They eased into the car seat and sat down.

"We'll be meeting the others at the restaurant," Nekozawa explained as the car pulled out of Haruhi's neighborhood. "It's my favorite place. You'll _like_ it."

While internally Haruhi was forced to question what sort of place it must be to be defined as _Nekozawa's_ favorite, she didn't say anything, nodding instead. After all, she was being treated, and it would be rude to be suspicious of his preferences. Instead, it occurred to her that something was out of place. Finally, she realized what it was.

"Where's Bereznoff?" she asked, and immediately realized just how ridiculous that sounded coming out of her mouth.

"He's decided to stay at home tonight," Nekozawa replied. "Bereznoff has seen this play before."

Haruhi decided not to question how the puppet had made its own decision.

Very little was said during the drive after that. Haruhi had an old habit of spacing out during long car rides and so for her, the silence was quite comfortable. But Nekozawa, who rarely rode in a car with anyone, and was infrequently forced into a situation where he was alone with another person for any length of time, felt a little awkward. He didn't know if he was supposed to say anything, and nothing in particular came to mind for him to say, so he chose to remain quiet for fear of looking foolish by mindless chatter. It wasn't until they were nearly there that Haruhi, who'd been thinking about a book she had started reading last night, finally noticed that her escort was looking a little tense.

"Are you uncomfortable?" Haruhi asked with concern, surprising Nekozawa, who hadn't realized that he was being obvious.

"Oh, no!" he quickly replied, forcing an awkward smile. "I just… um…"

"You're not afraid I won't like the play, are you?" Haruhi, a problem solver by nature, continued questioning.

"Not at all," he replied honestly, as that thought had never even crossed his mind. A grin split his face as he lowered his head slightly so that his dark hair fell over his eyes and he added ghoulishly, "You'll _like_ the play."

"Then why do you look tense?" Haruhi asked, oblivious to or perhaps purposefully ignoring his sinister countenance. Nekozawa shifted, looking abashed.

"Ah, it's nothing, Haruhi. Don't worry about it-"

"Oh, it's me, isn't it?" she interrupted suddenly, and Nekozawa was surprised not by her statement, but by how she had said it as if she had just solved a math problem. Haruhi nodded matter-of-factly. "I see. You don't know me very well, so it's strange to you to be left alone with me."

Nekozawa was genuinely impressed at how quickly and accurately she had figured him out. No wonder she was the 'natural type' at the Host Club.

"It's all right, Senpai. You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to." She smiled reassuringly at him.

Nekozawa had never seen Haruhi smile at him before. He turned his head towards the window to hide his reddening cheeks.

He did want to talk. He just didn't know what to say.

They finally pulled up outside a building in a classy district Haruhi didn't recognize. The driver stopped the car and opened the door to let them both out, giving Haruhi a chance to look around quickly at the surrounding large, attractive buildings, restaurants and hotels. A few blocks away she spotted a tree-lined park with a gazebo, and it occurred to her then that she had been there once for a wedding when she was younger. There were more buildings around now then there had been that day.

As they entered, Haruhi was forced to quickly adjust her eyes to the sudden change in lighting. The restaurant was very dimly lit, with almost no windows or overhead lights, only a small candle in a glass bowl on each table and a desk lamp over the hostess station. It was now clear to Haruhi why this was Nekozawa's favorite restaurant: because it was sensitive to his condition.

The maitre d' seemed to recognize Nekozawa immediately, and with a broad smile and a long, unnecessary string of compliments, lead the two of them to where the rest of the Black Magic Club were already waiting on them in a particularly dark corner of the establishment. Spotting them, Jun grinned and waved them over, drawing the attention of the others, who made room for Nekozawa and Haruhi to sit. They, too, had all dressed for the occasion in semi-formal attire; all, of course, in black.

Nekozawa took the seat in the corner, into facing the restaurant, and Haruhi imagined that they probably saved him that seat on purpose; maybe it was his regular seat. The other available chair was beside Nekozawa, so Haruhi sat down without a second thought. At this, the Jun, Tokumi and Taro exchanged glances and hid smirks. Reiko looked indifferent.

"Glad you could make it, Fujioka." Tokumi welcomed her with a smile. "Have you ever been here before?"

"No," Haruhi plainly replied. "I didn't know it existed."

"Please order anything you like," Nekozawa invited, smiling pleasantly at Haruhi. "I'm sure you'll find that everything is very good."

She opened the menu and scanned it through once. A quick search revealed that this particular restaurant did not serve giant tuna. In fact, their seafood section as a whole left something to be desired. With only a very mild and secret disappointment, she chose something else.

The dinner went well. The food was, as promised, very good and the club was very friendly and talkative, and quick to accept Haruhi into their social circle -except Reiko, who for the most part remained silent, and Nekozawa, who would answer when addressed but otherwise remained unusually quiet the entire dinner. Often Nekozawa would glance over at Haruhi to make sure the Host Club member was having a good time, and then, once assured, would look away with a small smile, the dark strands of hair falling over his eyes and hiding his expression.

Haruhi was just grateful that she wasn't being treated any differently from the others. When they talked about something she couldn't really get into or didn't quite understand, she just listened quietly, and usually someone would eventually explain it to her, to the best of their ability. The only difference was that she was the only one who had never been to this restaurant before, and as such, everyone kept offering her a sample of his or her food so that she could know what she liked. To Haruhi's surprise, even the expressionless Reiko. Especially Jun, though, who without asking would frequently drop something onto Haruhi's plate, but in return, steal something off of it as well. This continued until Taro called him unrefined and Tokumi told him to "stop being a monkey". Finally, Jun began to ask Haruhi first, but even then never wait for an answer.

It was as they finished up the last few bites, during the time in which Jun and Tokumi had an inane argument about vampires versus mages, that Haruhi excused herself to use the restroom. A moment after, Reiko wordlessly followed.

Haruhi found the restroom with only slight disorientation. She was in a fairly good mood. She wasn't even thinking about anything she'd rather be doing, because it was hard to want to study when the food had been that delicious, although the dim lighting was starting to put a strain on her eyes.

_I guess it wasn't a total waste,_ she supposed as she unthinkingly pushed open the bathroom door. _Maybe the rest of the night will go just as well._

"Fujioka." A voice stopped Haruhi, and she turned around to find Reiko staring at her blankly. After a moment, Reiko asked, "Do you realize that you are about to enter the _ladies_ room?"

Haruhi paused, staring at the dark eyed girl with obvious confusion. After a moment, she took a step back and looked at the door. It was clearly the women's bathroom. But she _was_ a girl. So what-

Oh. That's right. The Black Magic Club thought Haruhi was a _boy_. She was quickly able to put the puzzle pieces together. She had nearly forgotten that she was in disguise, and made a careless mistake.

"Oh! So it is." Haruhi took a step back, embarrassed. "How silly of me. That was almost a problem."

"It wouldn't really have been a problem," Reiko commented as she entered the bathroom, brushing past Haruhi. "I'm sure you could pass as a girl." The door swung shut, and Haruhi looked at it for a moment in contemplation. Should she wait for Reiko to leave, or use the men's room? She weighed the pros and cons of each option.

Deciding finally that she would look awfully strange standing outside the ladies room, she turned around and with a heavy sigh, opened the door to the men's room. Upon entering, the bathroom attendant raised a curious eyebrow at her, and coughed.

"The young lady, of course, realizes she is in the _men's_ room," he said.

When Haruhi and Reiko had left the table, the remaining members of the Black Magic Club turned their attention sharply to Nekozawa. Realizing that all eyes were on him, he looked around at them in puzzlement.

"So," Tokumi began, "What's the story?"

"What do you mean?" Nekozawa asked. Taro smirked wryly at his club president.

"_All that glisters is not gold_," he began. "Your eyes have been drifting all evening."

"You don't need to keep checking. He isn't going to leave," Jun grinned. Nekozawa regarded them all for a moment before responding, it having finally dawned on him what they were referring to. He then smiled harmlessly.

"You misunderstand! My interest in Fujioka is purely professional," he claimed. "To have him on our side would throw the Host Club into complete chaos, and I want to be in the center of it all," he added with a malevolent grin. But the others looked unconvinced.

"I could believe that, and believe me, I want to," Tokumi began, "but the looks you've been giving him have been sending…. mixed signals."

"I didn't even know you were into dudes. And then I realized that it doesn't surprise me," Jun shrugged. Taro gave him a threatening look, but said nothing. Nekozawa shook his head, smiling slightly.

"It doesn't look like there's any convincing you. What's that Milton quote, Taro? _We see things not as they are but as we are_."

Taro looked abashed.

"I don't know what that quote means but if you're implying that _I'm_ into guys, you'll find that you're sadly mistaken," Jun announced without a hint of embarrassment. Taro glared venomously at him.

"Dolt! It means that we're seeing it as we want to see it, and not as it is."

"No, I'm pretty sure that's how it just sort of is," Tokumi decided. "He's just denying it because he's embarrassed."

Reiko returned just then and eyed each of them at the table expressionlessly. Finally her blank gaze fell upon Nekozawa.

"Do we have to cast a counter-curse?" she asked blandly.

"I assure you, there would be no cause for it," Nekozawa replied. "I have things under control."

"I'm going to cast one anyhow, Senpai," she announced. "The entire Host Club is under his spell. I won't have you falling under it while attempting to uncover its secrets."

"That's… kind, I suppose, but really, don't trouble yourself." Nekozawa held up his hands, curiously absent of Bereznoff. "I have more power than you give me credit for,"

"We'll see," she commented eerily before finding her seat. Haruhi then returned.

* * *

They filed into two rows in the center of the theater, the fourth and fifth rows because before the tickets had been purchased, the club had unanimously decided that the first three rows were just too close. Taro, Tokumi and Jun filled three seats in the fourth row while directly behind them sat Reiko, Nekozawa, and Haruhi.

It had been a very long time since Haruhi had gone to see a play, and most of the ones she had seen had been for school field trips, and almost never recreationally. She remembered, as the hall filled around her, that it was only because of Shinobu and the Black Magic Club that she was able to do this at all. If she hadn't come, she knew she probably wouldn't have regretted it because there were lots of things to occupy her time with, and it was hard to miss what you'd never had. But as it was, she was here; in an architecturally beautiful historic theater she had only ever heard about and never even seen the outside of. She would have to be sure to thank Nekozawa and his club, particularly Shinobu, who thought of Haruhi as her replacement when she was unfortunately forced to back out.

Slowly, the theater began to dim, and the audience hushed. An old man and a young man appeared on the stage.

The play was appropriately chosen for the Black Magic Club, and Haruhi could easily picture it being one of Nekozawa's favorites. It was about a man whose business brought him to a remote, waterlogged village where an old woman had passed away and he needed to find some important documents in her creaky house behind the cemetery. But the house was haunted by the vengeful ghost of the old woman's sister, looking for the lost child she had been forced to give away. The production was suspenseful and thrilling, and Nekozawa watched with amusement as the row in front of him, which had only an hour earlier been bragging about how nothing scares them, jumped several times in fright. Even the emotionless Reiko from time to time would sharply intake her breath in a short gasp.

But to Nekozawa's disappointment, it didn't seem like anything frightened Haruhi- not the dramatic lighting, not the creaking stairs, not even the ghost herself. He remembered that he'd tried, oh how he'd tried when the Host Club had come to rent his family's beachfront property for a weekend. He had succeeded is scaring just about everyone else, or if nothing else at least making them uncomfortable, but never Haruhi. It seemed she was invulnerable, and he would have left tonight thinking as such, if not for one thing neither of them were privy to.

Haruhi hadn't known that there were two scenes in this play that took place during a storm.

And Nekozawa hadn't known about Haruhi's one fear.

The prerecorded sound effects exploded across the theater, belting out the sound of rain slamming against a wet dirt road, and phantom horse hooves crashing, invisible, towards the actor as he reeled in fright. The horse's startled whinny, and the resounding crack of thunder shook the theater.

Nekozawa, who had seen this play before, had been anticipating the deafening volume of this scene and was not affected by it. What startled him instead was Haruhi's reaction beside him. For the first time, out of the corner of his eye he saw her jump in fright, and suddenly there was a pull at the shoulder of his shirt. Turning his head slightly he saw her fist clutching the material so hard her knuckles had turned white, and her weight was now leaning against him. A moment later, without a word or a glance, Haruhi pulled away. Nekozawa looked briefly towards her, and a small, imperceptible smirk crossed his lips.

The second time round of effects, later in the story, was a revisit of the first time- the same setting, the same phantom horse hooves, the same rain effects. When Haruhi recognized it, she immediately tensed, dreading what she knew came next. She hunched her head forward into her chest, as if hoping to drown out the sound with her shoulders, but nothing seemed to be sufficient preparation. Although he was mostly unobvious, Nekozawa's attention was on Haruhi now, intensely curious to see if she would react the same as she did before.

When the thunderclap reverberated loudly across the theater, Haruhi winced visibly, turning her pained face towards Nekozawa's shoulder again, her fists gripping the armrests on her seat. Unable to look away now, Nekozawa turned towards her and watched until she finally turned her eyes back towards the stage. She never met his gaze, and the small blush across her cheeks told Nekozawa quite clearly that she had no intention of doing so.

Resisting the impulse to do anything that would be considered 'reassuring', Nekozawa turned back to the stage. Haruhi had just revealed a weakness, and was embarrassed by it, perhaps hoping Nekozawa hadn't noticed. It was too soon to dash that hope.

The club decided after the play to share a car home so that they could continue to chat until everyone was dropped off. Jun's family owned several car dealerships (Taro called him "new money"), and so he called for the biggest vehicle to come and pick them up. Dismissing the rest of their drivers, the club was well on its way to the end of a very good evening.

Nekozawa was the only one who had seen the play before, and smiling, listened to his friends' excited reviews.

"Umehito, you didn't _disappoint_ when you dragged us here. When that lady started tearing around the bedroom, I almost fell out of my chair!"

"I must have been the_ last _person to see her when she was walking around the cemetery. I nearly had a heart attack when I found her!"

"That was way scary."

"Reiko, were you scared?" Tokumi grinned towards the dark haired girl. Before she had a chance to reply, Nekozawa chuckled darkly.

"She was."

She shot her club president a threatening look, scandalized, and he shrugged dramatically as the other boys laughed. "You flinched several times," he continued, to her horror. "I'm afraid it couldn't be helped."

She crossed her arms and turned away in a huff. "Perhaps I was offended at being seated next to _you_, Senpai," she said indignantly. Nekozawa merely grinned.

"How about you, Fujioka?" Tokumi then turned his attention towards Haruhi, sitting quietly. "Were you _scared?_"

"Not really," Haruhi replied honestly. "I mean, they're just actors performing a script."

For a moment there was a startled silence as they stared at her, to her confusion, until Taro finally erupted.

"You aren't supposed to be keeping that in mind when you watch a play!" he exclaimed. "I can't believe you fail at _theater-going_!"

"Nekozawa-Senpai, is he lying?" Tokumi looked speculatively at the upperclassman. Nekozawa considered for a moment. He glanced over at Haruhi, and noticed that she deliberately wasn't looking at him, and seemed somewhat tense. She knew that she had given herself away, and that he'd noticed, and Haruhi was a little embarrassed by it. Nekozawa weighed his options

"Actually, Haruhi didn't seem frightened at all," he confessed. "It was sort of infuriating, actually. I don't think ghosts frighten him."

She raised her eyes to him, a little surprised that he would lie on her behalf, but genuinely grateful. In Haruhi's opinion, already too many people knew about her fear of thunder, and if she'd known the play would exploit that she might have tried harder to decline. But then, she supposed, the performance WAS meant to scare her, which it succeeded in doing.

Unnoticed by the others, Haruhi caught Nekozawa as he turned slightly towards her with a wry smile, and then turned away. The almost undetectable gesture seemed to convey the message- _your secret is safe with me._ Haruhi's cheeks reddened lightly.

_He's like Tamaki's reflection,_ she thought,_ But with the pretense of mystery replacing hyper-enthusiasm._

"That's so boring," Jun crossed his arms, annoyed. "You bore me, Fujioka!"

"You're just mad because Haruhi is manlier than you are," Tokumi grinned.

"Doesn't make his balls any bigger," Jun huffed. "He still looks like a _girl._" Taro backslapped Jun, while Haruhi turned bright red.

"You are _so crude_!"

"_Ow!_ Don't be so stuck up, Taro! We talked like that all the time at my middle school!"

Nekozawa turned apologetically to Haruhi, speechless with humiliation, his eyes wide and panicked. She hadn't actually been offended, as she'd already figured Jun to be the type of person that says things like that. More than anything else, Haruhi thought that the look of horror on his face was incredibly funny. She started to giggle. Nekozawa seemed unsure how to react.

"Your face!" she laughed, "What a great face you made!"

Relieved that Haruhi wasn't offended but uneasy that she was laughing at him, Nekozawa relaxed, and tried to laugh though only succeeded in sounding sort of awkward.

Tokumi was dropped off first, and then Reiko. At their loss, the car was more spacious, but no less noisy as Jun and Taro continued to argue, and Nekozawa looked more and more uncomfortable. Finally they pulled up outside Haruhi's house. Jun and Taro couldn't help but to peer curiously out of the windows.

"Wow," said Taro in wonderment, "Why does your house have so many doors?"

"You're such a jerk, it's a town house!" Jun replied delightedly. "We used to live in one of these!"

"Would you like me to walk you to your door?" Nekozawa asked, turning to Haruhi.

"Thank you, Senpai," she replied dismissively, "but it's all of twelve feet. I think I can make it on my own."

"Well, then. Thank you for joining us tonight."

"Thank you for inviting me. I'll see you later."

The three watched as she exited the car and walked up the stairs to her house, pulling out her keys.

"Look!" Nekozawa pointed excitedly, "He's got the keychain I gave him!"

"Where? I don't see…"

"And this is something that thrills you, Senpai?"

"You could only see it for a moment… looks like he's inside now." The car pulled away. Nekozawa watched her house for a moment longer before turning back to his companions, to find them eyeing him suspiciously.

"Why did you want to walk him to his door?" Jun questioned. "Were you expecting a good-night kiss?"

"I was being courteous. I don't know what commoner customs are!"

"So you saw it in a movie and thought you'd try it? Those movies usually end in kissing. Senpai, do you want to kiss Haruhi?"

"_No!_" Nekozawa turned red as Taro and Jun exchanged knowing glances, smirking. His face fell into his hands, exasperated. "You are looking at it to hard, and finding things that aren't there."

"I think we have better eyes than you do," Taro replied with a smile.


	5. Crystal Gazing

"The Woman in Black" really is an awesome play. If you get the chance, you should go see it.Once again I thank my beta Leafygirl, and urge everyone to try and get Nekozawa's name added to the character dropdown. And maybe Ranka. And Kasonada.

* * *

Reiko Kanazuki walked hurriedly through the halls of Ouran with an air of confidence, her head held high, heels clicking sharply against the immaculate tile floor. She was a woman on a mission. Reiko needed to speak with Nekozawa on a matter she found to be most pressing. She had even left her class early to be sure to make it to the theater department before the others in her club, for this was a matter of utmost importance. She needed to be the second one there today; Nekozawa was always the first.

It had taken her days of divining, hours of fruitless concentration, before she finally had come to the realization she had been searching for. Her club president's spiritual barriers had been almost impossible to break through, and she felt quite proud of herself for finally doing so- despite what he would think. Reiko remembered his objection to her proposal to cast a protective counter-curse on him when she'd suggested it at the restaurant over a week ago. She chose to disregard it. Of course he wouldn't want her to do a reading on him- he was a very private person. But by the time he'd said it, she knew it was already too late for him. He needed her help more than he knew.

Rounding the corner down the hall of the theater department towards the rehearsal room where they met, Reiko was encompassed in her thoughts to the point of complete distraction. She didn't even notice that anyone else was in the hall until someone stopped abruptly in front of her as she reached for the door handle. Looking up suddenly, she was startled to see the timid face of Shinobu staring back at her, clutching a basket.

"Um! S-sorry! I, I didn't mean to bump into you…" Shinobu apologized, blushing, while Reiko was still trying to figure out how she had gotten all the way from her class to the clubroom without remembering a single step of it. Shaking it off, she came to her senses. It was then that something occurred to her as odd.

"Shinobu," she began, confusing the other girl who rarely heard her friend speak, "I thought you were usually the last one here."

"I… Is that a problem? I mean I am but we let out early today… um…. So… cookie?" She held up the basket containing a dozen or so baked goods, fresh from the cooking class, her face bright with embarrassment. Reiko ignored her offer, turning back towards the door. With a push, it opened.

"Come inside," she instructed coldly. "I suppose you'll just have to help."

Inside, as predicted, Nekozawa was alone in the dark room, lighting candles. Reiko confidently approached him, a severe look clear on her usually featureless face. The difference was not lost on her club president.

"Reiko-Chan," he started curiously, setting down the candelabra he had just lit, "is something wrong?"

"There is a matter which we must discuss, Umehito-Senpai," she began. Behind them, Shinobu set down her basket beside their merchandising table and hovered behind them curiously, within earshot. Nekozawa frowned, and turned his full attention to his suddenly serious club member.

"What does this pertain to?"

"Haruhi Fujioka."

Nekozawa flinched, and noticed when Shinobu, who was trying to look like she wasn't eavesdropping, gasped. It had only been a matter of time, he supposed, until this came up. It had been clear to him since the dinner almost two weeks ago that the ever-suspicious Reiko would not be as quick to accept Haruhi as the others had. However, she was not prone to rash generalizations or quick decisions, and he valued her opinion. Reiko's cool countenance attested to her wisdom, and she knew he knew that. Grimly, he steeled himself for the argument he did not want but knew he needed to hear.

"What about Fujioka?" he asked, attempting to force a smile that she did not respond to. She continued to stare at him intently through cold, black eyes, unamused.

"I regret to inform you that I've gone against your wishes, Senpai," Reiko began simply. "But I saw it as a necessary action. You told me not to cast a counter-curse or protection spell because you didn't need one. But by that time, I knew that you were so far removed you wouldn't have noticed if you were under a spell at all. Of course you denied it. You couldn't see the trouble you were in." Her eyes flashed and he listened quietly, his hair hiding his expression. She continued.

"So I've been crystal gazing. I decided to do my own research on Haruhi, to see if there was any chance that he had already cast some spell, and if I could determine what it was. It took me several days, Senpai," she added, raising her eyebrows to him. "Several hours of several days. I was stretched to my spiritual breaking point, and I had nearly given up many times. But I persevered. I needed to. And I was rewarded for doing so, when I was finally answered. Do you know what the crystals told me? What I discovered?"

The lightest trace of a dark smile crossed her lips as she raised her eyes to him. Nekozawa swallowed his breath. The air in the room suddenly seemed to be thick with tension, and his heartbeat sped up considerably as a result. He disapproved of Reiko's casting spells behind his back, but maybe she really was right to do so. The fact that Reiko was bothering to tell him all this meant that there was something to tell. There was something to know about Haruhi.

"Tell me." His voice was low, in volume and in pitch. Reiko smirked slightly, lowering her eyes.

"You might not like it," she explained. Nekozawa set his teeth, his eyes narrowed, as his heartbeat pounded against his ribcage. Was it possible? Could Fujioka be deceiving everyone? Was there a spell? Was there a secret?

"Reiko," he growled. "What do you know?"

"Ha-ru-hi Fu-ji-o-ka…." She started slowly, drawing the moment out, watching with amusement as Nekozawa drew in his breath in anticipation. Entertained by the slight panic she could see through the black hair that fell over his blue eyes, Reiko smiled.

"…has absolutely _no _psychic abilities _whatsoever_. He couldn't have cursed you if he wanted to."

Nekozawa expelled his breath in a loud sigh, resting his forehead on his palm in relief. Across the room, Shinobu wearily sat down. He shook his head and glared at Reiko.

"Was it _really_ necessary to build it up like that, Reiko-Chan?" he asked, exasperated. "I was afraid for a moment that I'd made a very powerful enemy without even realizing it."

"I think the drama was very appropriate," she replied, clearly amused. "You needed to understand what trouble you _could_ have been in. But this brings up another problem, Umehito-Senpai."

"Another?" he choked, exhausted already.

"I'm afraid so," she answered. "You see, Haruhi has no skill in magic. Furthermore, it should be quite clear to you that he has no interest in magic, either. And, pertaining to what you said earlier, about powerful enemies… well, you would have them. The Host Club, which seems to cherish Fujioka, includes the future heirs of such industries as medicine, school administration, and fashion, besides of course masters of kendo and karate. At our best, our club has the automotive industry, the music industry, and old royalty. No club in this school can win against them, especially our own, unless we call upon dark forces. Therefore, I've concluded that it would be a disaster for Haruhi Fujioka to join the Black Magic Club."

A deafening silence hung heavy in the air as Nekozawa considered her words. He knew there was a truth to them- a painful truth that seemed to strike him right in the chest. And what was more; he had known it all along, somewhere at the edge of his conscious. He had been having such a good time that he purposefully ignored the nagging thoughts that insisted that all his efforts would be in vain. But eventually, it was sure to become an issue that would need addressing, and now was that time. There was almost no chance of getting Haruhi into his club.

Nekozawa seemed to deflate. Shinobu opened her mouth to say something, but nothing actually came out. She lowered her head, hiding her face behind her hair, at a loss for words of comfort or optimism. Nekozawa sighed, and then righted himself, quickly recovering.

"You're very right, Reiko-Chan," he agreed quietly, his voice solemn. "I shall stop inviting Fujioka to our club."

"Why?"

The question struck him as odd. He raised a curious eyebrow to the dark eyed girl, standing silently in front of him. Hadn't she just given him a long list of reasons why?

"Well… because we could never get him in our club."

"And you can't have friends outside this club?"

There was a long pause.

"Umehito-Senpai," she began, sensing his confusion, "You always knew Haruhi Fujioka would never join our club by his own free will. He has absolutely no interest in its activities. But you sought him out determinately. Why do you suppose that is…?"

Nekozawa did not answer. He could not seem to think of a single response, and opened and closed his mouth several times in the attempt. A wry smirk lightly crossed Reiko's features.

"To find out…" she started slyly, "…why don't you go down to the Host Club and visit him?"

Another silence followed. Nekozawa turned towards the recently lit candelabra, watching as the fire steadily burned down the wick, fluttering unpredictably in the slightest of winds. He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he had made a decision.

"I think I will," he declared confidently, grabbing Bereznoff from the end table. The door opened then, and Taro entered the room.

"Oh! Reiko and Shinobu, you're quite early," he commented. He then watched in mild bafflement as his club president picked up the basket of Bereznoff key chains by the door and hurried out, quickly calling over to Reiko that she was in charge until he returned. Taro turned curiously to his club members.

"He is going to see Fujioka," Reiko smiled coyly, her eyes dark. Taro grinned.

"Well _finally_," he replied crossing his arms.

"I don't think anything will happen today," she commented. "He still doesn't quite understand. It's sort of sad, really, to think that when he realizes it, he'll be the last to know."

"Correction," Taro smirked. "_Haruhi_ will be the last to know."

* * *

"HARUHI FUJIOKA!"

With a gasp, Haruhi jumped, nearly dropping her teacup but catching it before it spilled. Setting the cup down safely, she turned to scowl at a pair of identical grins. She had only just sat down and was hardly expecting an ambush from behind her chair.

"Is there something you want, or are you just here to scare me?" she asked, irritated. The twins looked at each other, and then back at her, smiling devilishly.

"Before the clients get here," they began in unison, their eyes sparking with mischief, "we wanted to show you something!" Before she could protest, they had pulled her up forcibly and were dragging her over to the practice room. Stopping just in front of the double doors, they left her, quickly reaching for the door handles before she could find the time to ask what was going on. With a glance to each other, Hikaru and Kaoru opened the doors. Behind them, a beautifully crafted elegant white satin dress hanging off a slender dressing dummy shimmered before her.

Haruhi turned and walked away.

"No, no, no, no!" they protested, following her. "You're supposed to get all sparkly and go 'I wanna try it on!'"

"No thank you," she replied blandly as Tamaki peered into the room to see the garment in question.

"But we had it made for you!" Hikaru continued, stepping into Haruhi's path. "See? High-cut, shoulder less design with extra material around the chest to hide that you don't have one!"

"Forget it."

"Haaaaruuuuhiiiii!" the twins whined, "Just try it on!"

"No."

"But I wanna know if we got the measurements right," Kaoru explained. "Since we had to sort of eyeball it."

"Stop eyeballing my daughter, you miscreants!" Tamaki hollered fiercely, before turning towards Haruhi determinately. "And Haruhi, as your father, I _insist_ that you try on that dress!"

"Pass."

"Act your gender!" he despairingly demanded. "You're a girl, and you should wear girl clothes! Your brothers went to a lot of trouble to have it made!"

"Yeah, we did!" the twins agreed, backing their club president. Each reached forward and grabbed one of Haruhi's hands. "So if you would just…"

The clubroom door began to creak open and they quickly dropped their hold of Haruhi, to her relief. The Host Club straightened themselves to greet their guests. Kyouya, who had been silently observing from the back, subtly shut the back room doors, hiding the garment. The club members smiled radiantly at their client.

"Welco-"

"Their greeting was cut short when a familiar black cowl and cat puppet darkened their doorway. Kaoru groaned while Hikaru rolled his eyes, and Tamaki drew back a few paces defensively. Kyouya made note.

"Nekozawa!" Tamaki started in a shrill voice, "What do you want?"

"Why, nothing you aren't willing to give, Suoh-Kun," Nekozawa smiled darkly from beneath his hood, entering the room, "and maybe a few things you _aren't_ wiling to part with."

"You can't have my soul!"

"I'll bargain for that later. For now, I've come to inform you all of a great deal we're offering at the Black Magic Club, you really can't miss it!"

"We don't want it," The Hitachiin twins interrupted, waving him off. "Go back to your bat cave."

"You won't hear me out? How disappointing. Well I can't come all this way and not tell anyone. Shall I stand outside, then? I can ask the girls who approach if perhaps _they_ would be interested…"

"Okay, okay, okay!" Tamaki conceded in a panic. "We'll listen! Just don't…. _talk_ to anyone!"

"How wonderful!" Nekozawa beamed at the Host Club, who seemed to wilt. He held up the basket of key chains in one hand- Bereznoff seemed to gesture towards the basket on his other hand. "Since you're all such _good friends_ of the Black Magic Club, I just wanted to inform you of the new item on the market! You can buy them independently, or receive one free with each visit to the Black Magic Club! You're very own-" he reached in to the basket to retrieve one. Suddenly, Nekozawa blanched, frozen in horror.

"…C-cookie…"

There was a long, awkward silence, during which Nekozawa's face turned from ghostly white to blood red as he stared at the fresh baked treats that were certainly not Bereznoff key-chains like he thought they were. Wasn't that what was in this basket? Who had brought cookies to the meeting? The moment he asked himself the last question, he knew the answer.

"…Cookies?" Tamaki repeated in obvious confusion, not about to be fooled by the snack's delicious appearance. Nekozawa righted himself, attempting to recover.

"Yes, of course," he continued. "Cookies. Like I said, a new item at the Black Magic Club, made by its very own members."

_Shinobu Kokoro,_ he thought to himself, hiding a scowl_, I will kill you._

(Somewhere across the school, Shinobu shuddered involuntarily.)

"That's an _odd_ thing for your club to sell," Kaoru remarked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe…" Hunny bravely stepped forward, "Maybe they're really _good _cookies."

"Yeah, and I bet Snow White's apple was pretty good, too," Hikaru replied suspiciously. Mori grabbed Hunny's hand before he could take another step towards Nekozawa.

It was Haruhi who finally stepped forward and took one, and despite Tamaki's protests, bit into it. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment while her club mates waited, breath held, to see if she would turn into a frog or faint or something. Finally, Haruhi swallowed.

"Its good," Haruhi finally decided. She raised her eyes to Nekozawa. "Did you make it?"

Nekozawa shook his head fervently. "Shinobu did," he replied. With a small, mischievous smile, he leaned forward and whispered into Haruhi's ear, "Actually, I grabbed the wrong basket. But I'll tell her that you enjoyed them."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow at him. A thin smirk crossed her lips, but she said nothing as she stepped back towards her club members, who quickly surrounded her and began inspecting her for signs of witchcraft.

Nekozawa felt a little flush at the smile she gave him, and his heart seemed to beat a little faster. It was so strange to him; there was definitely something about Haruhi Fujioka that he reacted to, something no one else he knew had. Something he felt only when Haruhi was around. But according to Reiko, she had no magic or spell casting abilities at all. What was it about her? Nekozawa didn't know, but he was beginning to realize what it was about the underclassmen that attracted the Host Club to her. He couldn't name what it was yet, but he was starting to narrow it down.

So, Haruhi would never join the Black Magic Club. That was fine. He was already resigned to that fact anyway, though for a long time he fought it. But that didn't mean he couldn't stop by now and again to see her, and it wouldn't stop him from inviting her to club functions as he had been previously. He would just continue in the manner he had been. Reiko was right; he could have friends outside of him club. Surely that was what he had wanted all along.

"Senpai." A cool, smooth voice drew Nekozawa's attention, and he looked over to see Kyouya standing beside him, his face in his notebook, his eyes hidden behind a glare on his glasses lenses. It was then that Nekozawa realized he had probably been staring, and hid a blush.

"Our clients will soon arrive. I thank you for your visit but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. Don't you have your own club meeting today?" he asked, raising his eyes to the upperclassmen.

"Yes, of course," Nekozawa quickly replied. "I apologize for interrupting. I'll leave this gift with you, then; a token of friendship, from my club to yours," he grinned, setting the basket down on a table. With one last glance towards Haruhi, Nekozawa exited.

Kyouya took note.


	6. Augury

This story is forever getting longer than I think it will. Once again, a hundred thanks to my beta, Leafygirl. Sorry this was so late. You guys are awesome.

* * *

"_Nothing will come of nothing_," Taro decided aloud resolutely as he carefully penned the invitation, taking great care to perfect his handwriting. "This has to work. There's no way it wouldn't." 

"Leash in that ego of yours," Jun replied passively as he sat back in his chair with a soda bottle. "Just because it's your idea doesn't mean it's the best one."

"Try to trust my sense of romance, oh ye of little faith." Taro raised his eyes to his companion with a small smile. "I bet in an atmosphere like this, I could even have _you_ kissing Umehito."

"That's funny. You should do stand-up."

"What's going on?" Tokumi approached the table then, curious to what the others were doing. A look of displeasure crossed his face when he saw Taro penning a note; beside it, an envelope with Haruhi Fujioka's name on it.

"Oh my great dark God, Taro, tell me you aren't writing a stupid fake love letter for Umehito-Senpai."

"No!" Taro rolled his eyes with indignation. "That would _never _work. Besides, Fujioka is in the Host Club. He probably ignores love letters all the time."

"So what _are _you doing?" Tokumi questioned, bending over the table to see the parchment. After a moment, he raised his eyes skeptically to his grinning club member.

"You're joking. How is this supposed to work?"

"_Though this be madness, yet there is method in't,_" Taro replied confidently. "I have it under control! As I was telling Jun, with the right atmosphere, I could have even _him_ falling for our president."

"Oh, that's nice. That's great," Jun bit back dryly. "You just keep pressing that button."

"Wasn't it just, like, not that long ago that we were trying to scare the living hell out of these guys?" Tokumi sighed, recalling the first year's fright fest they'd invited themselves to participate in. "What ever happened to that?"

"That was a club activity. This is personal," explained Taro. "Besides, we weren't scaring a person or a club, we were scaring a _class_. Haruhi just happened to be _in_ that class."

"You know, it's great and all that you're trying to do something nice for Umehito-Senpai," Tokumi began, furrowing his brow as Taro carefully folded the letter and slipped it into the envelope, "And it's pretty obvious he's got a thing for Haruhi, even if he doesn't realize it. But did it ever occur to anyone that Haruhi might be… you know… _not gay_?"

"Impossible!" Jun declared knowingly. "_Everyone_ in the Host Club is gay. It's like a prerequisite."

"No it's not!"

"It won't matter!" Taro announced. "I'm sure that wherever Fujioka's preferences lie, he has a place in his heart for our dear president. _Love is blind, and lovers cannot see_."

"I bet they can tell the difference in gender, though." Tokumi rolled his eyes. "You're just going to end up screwing the whole thing up."

"Our part in this play is quite small, Tokumi," Taro continued trying to convince his friend, smiling confidently. "We're just going to present a situation. After that, it will be up to Umehito to screw up."

"I'm telling him you said that," Jun grinned. "I'm gonna say, 'Taro thinks you're a screw-up'."

"You are being _completely_ unproductive," Taro scowled. "Why don't you go drown somewhere?"

"Oh hey, Taro, I got a quote for you. Ah, what was it… it's on the tip of my tongue…. Oh yeah. _You're an idiot_."

"Well, I don't think we have anything to do with this. Count me out." Tokumi raised his hands as he backed away from the table. He was surprised suddenly when Taro stood up and followed him, grinning.

"I'm afraid I've already cast your role, Tokumi," he began, and thrust the envelope into his bewildered club mate's hands. "You have to go and deliver it. And before you ask, its because you're the _only_ one from the Black Magic Club whose never visited the Host Club even on an errand, and will look the least suspicious," Taro quickly explained, reading Tokumi's question on his face. Flustered, the boy opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally huffing in resignation.

"_Fine_. But I'm going home afterward."

"After what?"

The three boys jumped, startled, as Nekozawa melted quietly out of the darkness- they'd had no idea he'd even returned. Tokumi quickly hid the letter behind his back.

"Umehito!" Taro stammered, "I thought you were posting club fliers! Where's Reiko?"

"We split up," Nekozawa explained airily, eyeing the increasingly nervous looking Tokumi with suspicion. "What have you got there?"

"Homework. Assignment. Got a paper to write," Tokumi attempted uneasily, backing towards the door. "So… I gotta go. Write. Um… Later!"

Tokumi fled, swinging the doors open and racing out hurriedly. Nekozawa turned his mistrusting gaze towards Taro and Jun, who tensed.

"…History, I think," Taro explained, smiling. "He's nervous because he's been falling behind in history lately. So he's going to go study."

Nekozawa raised an eyebrow apprehensively. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing!" The boys replied in unison. Taro then added, a somewhat coy smile on his lips, "Merely rehearsing for a play!"

* * *

Tokumi immediately felt out of place. He bristled with uneasiness as he hurried through the third music room, face red with humiliation, feeling as though all eyes were on him. He hated being around this many people. It was suffocating. Tokumi scanned the room quickly, praying that Fujioka was someplace nearby and easily accessible. Maybe not near anyone. That would be great. 

He found Haruhi finally sitting with a group of about four or five girls near the window towards the back. Ducking his head as low as he could into his coat, trying to remain as unnoticeable as possible, Tokumi hastened towards her, thinking the entire way that it wasn't too late, he could still turn around and rip up the stupid note and stop Taro before he killed someone with these ridiculously ill-conceived attempts to play Cupid. But his feet continued forward, and in a moment Tokumi had stopped in front of Haruhi. The girls quickly took note of this new boy, flushed and trembling, standing awkwardly before their designated host.

"Umm…. Fujioka…" He mumbled, somehow managing to actually draw her attention.

"Tokumi," Haruhi noted with surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Everyone was staring at him. He was starting to sweat. He couldn't seem to remember what he wanted to say and he felt so awkward it was making him nauseous, so finally he shoved Taro's invitation forward hastily into her hands.

"…For you," he stammered, shaking visibly. The girls watched, eyes widened in shock, as Haruhi took the letter from the blushing, nervous Tokumi. Immediately they erupted into squeals of delight.

"It's a _confession!_ Haruhi got a confession from a _boy!_"

"_What?!_"

This, of course, drew the attention of everyone in the room, much to Tokumi's horror. He was quickly surrounded by a horde of shrieking girls, watching in some kind of fangirl rapture as Tokumi turned varying degrees of red.

"No, no!" he desperately exclaimed as waves of panic swept over him, "I'm just a messenger! _A messenger_!"

"For who?!" the girls demanded relentlessly, overjoyed, "Who sent the letter?"

"Who is it?"

"How long have you liked him?"

"Have you ever kissed a boy?"

"I HAVE TO GO NOW HARUHI GOODBYE." Without a second glance, Tokumi raced out of the room, nearly tripping over the club's clients on the way out, leaving a puzzled Haruhi and a lot of bewildered girls behind. All attention was soon focused on the note, including the eyes of the Host Club themselves. Haruhi opened the envelope and slid the letter out, while the girls held their collective breath in anticipation, hoping Haruhi would tell them what it said or who it was from. Finally, after scanning the note, a look of surprise crossed the recipient's features.

"Oh! It's an invitation to a violin concerto from Taro. I didn't know he could play."

There was a collective sigh of disappointment from the girls around Haruhi, though some still held some hope that the invitation was an excuse to get Haruhi alone, by either Tokumi or Taro, if they weren't the same person using a pseudo name. Behind her, Kyouya took the invitation, reading it quickly as his mind efficiently registered everything he knew about the sender. He adjusted his glasses as he returned the letter, and began jotting notes in his black binder.

"You're certainly making famous friends, Haruhi," he noted, glancing down at the girl with the slightest traces of a wry smirk on his cold lips. "Your friend here is the son of a famous composer, and is a burgeoning musician himself."

That wasn't all Kyouya knew about Taro, but he decided to keep the boy's club activities private for now.

"Wow, where'd you meet this guy?" Hikaru asked, somewhat impressed.

"Yeah, I've never seen you talk to anyone outside of class or this club," Kaoru added with a short laugh, taking the letter to examine for himself. "Did he just draw your name out of a hat or something?" He looked at the location for the concert. -Art wing, theater department, rehearsal room… That sounded vaguely familiar. What club met in there? Was it the drama club? The anime club?

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" Haruhi asked passively, reluctant to admit to them that she'd met him through Nekozawa. As far as they knew, she'd only been to the Black Magic Club once, to return Bereznoff to its rightful owner. She sighed. "I guess it would be rude not to go, after he went to the trouble… how bothersome. I really needed to vacuum, too."

"But this is a wonderful opportunity!" Tamaki exclaimed, immediately weaving a fantasy of Haruhi in a ballroom gown dancing with him to a beautiful orchestral melody, her eyes shining with affection. "I, of course, would be happy to escort you, Haruhi!"

"Bad luck, Tono," Kaoru began, examining the letter with some indifference. "It doesn't say 'plus guest'."

"That's- that's implied!" Tamaki sputtered. "Why would only Haruhi be invited?"

"Is that so impossible, Senpai?" Haruhi asked, her irritation obvious. "Is it inconceivable that someone would be interested in inviting me to something you weren't invited to?"

"Of course it is! –I mean… err…" Immediately he could sense the danger level radiating off the female host as he caught himself. He hadn't meant any offence, certainly, but it seemed odd to him that only she would be invited somewhere when she made so few close friends, and as a commoner there were few perks to having her as an acquaintance. He thought for sure she would understand that!

"I… I only meant…" he stammered, but she turned her back. "Haruhi! Please don't be angry!"

"You're right, Senpai," she said, her voice cold. "This _is_ a good opportunity. I think I'll go."

He shivered, distraught by her tone of voice, when she turned towards him, freezing him with her eyes, as she added darkly "…by myself."

Tamaki retreated to a corner to weep.

* * *

The door to the Black Magic Club creaked open in the eerie manner to which she was now accustomed, reminding her to wonder, as she often did, if the door also creaked like this when the drama club needed the room or if it was an effect exclusive to this club. Slipping in, Haruhi closed the door behind her, knowing the hall light might inconvenience the club president. 

"Hello?" she called into the darkness as her eyes adjusted to the dim candlelight, "Is anyone here?…"

"Haruhi!" a surprised voice was heard as Nekozawa appeared behind her suddenly, startling her a little. He seemed delighted. "What a pleasant surprise! To what do I owe the honor?"

With some confusion, Haruhi looked around the room and noticed that no one else was there. This _was_ where the note said to meet, wasn't it...?

"Oh, Senpai," she acknowledged him, and held up Taro's invitation. "Tokumi delivered this to me in club today."

Curiously, Nekozawa took the parchment. As he read it over, he suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. So this was what the others were looking so suspicious about earlier. Had they nothing better to do?

"I'm afraid I don't know anything about it," the boy explained sheepishly. "I wasn't informed of a concerto, although it would have been nice if he'd told _me_ he'd be utilizing the club room for personal purposes. The others have already left for today."

"Then I see there was a mistake." Haruhi bowed politely, sighing at the waste of time. "I'll excuse myself now. I'm very sorry, Nekozawa-Senpai."

Before he could object and invite her to stay a while longer, they were distracted suddenly by a soft sound filling the room. Quietly, they both stopped to listen in curious wonder as they recognized the sound to be a violin, whispering a soft melody from an unknown source. Both of them looked around, puzzled.

"Where is that coming from?" Haruhi asked as she tried to follow the sound. "Maybe I'm just in the wrong room…"

Nekozawa listened as Haruhi searched, recognizing the song to be one Taro's father had written- a soft and slow melody with an air of romance. He sighed. What, exactly, was his club hoping to accomplish with this prank?

"Its coming from over here," Haruhi called, following the song to a corner to the west of the club room. Nekozawa quickly followed, hoping to unravel this mystery so that he could reprimand Taro for being an idiot. As for Haruhi, who wasn't curious by nature, she just wanted to know where she was supposed to be, and followed her ears until they lead her to a wall. Turning to Nekozawa, who approached her from behind, she pointed to the obstruction.

"What room is behind this wall?" she asked, hoping he knew where the door was. Instead, he seemed even more puzzled.

"_No_ room is behind there." he replied curiously. "There's a narrow hallway, and the stairs leading up to the tech room for the Drama Club during shows. It's kept locked when there isn't a production going on. "

"Well _someone_ is in there," Haruhi folded her arms, becoming frustrated. Nekozawa, chin in hand, considered for a moment. A thought then crossed his mind.

"I think I know," he said aloud, drawing Haruhi's attention. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue but Nekozawa paused. Clearly, someone was trying to lead the two of them somewhere. Did he want to take the bait? Did he want to lead Haruhi into what could easily be a potentially embarrassing situation?

Turning to her then, he was mildly startled to find himself staring into her deep, wide eyes as she patiently waited for him to point her in the right direction. To see her so focused on him tinted his cheeks in a light blush. Nekozawa quickly turned away.

"Follow me."

He started towards the door, and Haruhi wordlessly followed as he lead her out of the club room and down to the end of the hall, passing through the door that lead into the theater lobby, currently empty. Haruhi realized that from there, she could still faintly hear the violin, and continued to follow. Finally, Nekozawa pushed open the door into the theater, and invited her to step in.

The house lights were down, but a few spotlights were lit, illuminating the bare stage and glowing dimly across the empty theater. There, the song sounded clearly through the room. Nekozawa pointed up, behind the empty rows of seats, to a room behind glass windows.

"That's the tech room," he explained. "The controls for recorded sounds are up there."

"So this is a recording?" Haruhi sighed in obvious disappointment. "Why would he invite me to hear a CD?"

"It's still him," Nekozawa absently assured her, recognizing sound to be from a CD Taro had made as an application into music schools. Haruhi glanced up at him briefly, and looked around, slightly irritated.

"But I thought it would be him in person. That's what the invitation implied. I could listen to a CD at home. And why the chase all around the school? He could have just said, 'in the theater'."

"I wouldn't put it past him to make us go through this elaborate measure to heighten the sense of drama," Nekozawa admitted, equally a little annoyed. "Lets wait a moment; maybe he's waiting to make an entrance."

Haruhi was forced to admit that Nekozawa was probably right, and chose a seat to wait. Nekozawa, deciding that the theater was dark enough, took off his robe and folded it across the back of a chair, then took a seat beside her. They sat in silence, listening to the music as it echoed across the empty theater for their ears alone, a soft and beautiful melody Nekozawa recognized to be a lullaby. He turned to Haruhi, to see if he could tell what she was thinking, but her face was blank, lost in thought somewhere as she gazed at the empty stage. It was then that Nekozawa remembered something, and he started to snicker quietly to himself. Haruhi turned to him curiously.

"I just remembered," he began, looking towards the closed curtains with a malicious smile, "when we went to go see _The Woman in Black_. That was a good play, wasn't it, Haruhi?" He glanced over to her, grinning darkly. Haruhi's face instantly turned red, recognizing immediately where he was probably going with this.

"It was," she replied coolly, turning away from him. He continued to smile, infuriatingly.

"And _scary_," he continued. "Don't you think?"

"It had its moments," she said, her red face belying her composed voice.

"It certainly did," Nekozawa grinned. "_Two_ of them, I believe."

"Are you going somewhere with this, Senpai?" she finally asked flatly, with a hint of annoyance.

"Not particularly," Nekozawa replied with a wicked grin. "I'm just amused, is all. I tried very hard on several occasions to frighten you, and then found out all it really takes is a summer storm."

"Why were you trying to do that?" Haruhi asked seriously, raising an inquiring eyebrow at him, curious but at the same time hoping to change the subject of conversation.

"Entertainment," he replied simply with a shrug. "I like Suoh-Kun, I think he's funny. So I like to mess with him, and his club, by extension." He smiled at her unapologetically, and she responded by rolling her eyes.

"Does he know? About the thunder?" Nekozawa asked suddenly, turning in his seat to face her. "Does Suoh-Kun know?"

"Yeah, he found out," Haruhi sighed, secretly disappointing her company who had sort of liked the idea of a shared secret between them. "Come to think of it," she continued, turning to face him, "He found out when we were all at your summer house. Remember that last night, when it rained?"

"Really? That night?" Nekozawa inquired in obvious surprise, his eyebrows raised. "At my summer home? Imagine that!" He remembered that night; he even remembered the first flash of thunder. The Host Club had discovered his secret when he'd run downstairs after hearing a commotion and forgotten his wig. After that they'd established some committee, lead by the Hitachiin twins, to follow him around and barrage him with questions about his lineage until he locked himself in the parlor to escape them. He was just watching the rain out the window when the lightning stuck. Where was Haruhi then? Kyouya had gone to bed, and the others had only just stopped trying to break into the parlor where he hid. If Tamaki had found out right then, he and Haruhi might have been alone.

Nekozawa's chest constricted then, and he turned away to hide his suddenly reddening face. Haruhi wouldn't have just told Suoh, he would have had to find out. How did he find out? Did Haruhi grab his shirt, like she did to Nekozawa at the play? And then what? Did Suoh put his arms around her comfortingly? Did she bury her face in his chest? Did they share a moment? All under Nekozawa's own roof?

He bit his lip to keep from saying anything as these astonishingly upsetting images flooded his imagination, causing his stomach to lurch uncomfortably. Nekozawa didn't even understand what it was that was agitating him; he already knew that Suoh adored Haruhi, which was no secret. But, then, he also knew that Haruhi was not impulsive, or emotional. She probably flinched, maybe covered her ears, nothing more. The scene he imagined was very improbable. Nekozawa sighed, as if relieved, and willed himself to relax, aided by the tranquil music emanating from the speakers and floating softly around the theater. It did bother him, though, that he didn't know why he was suddenly so incensed.

"How remarkable," he said, facing the empty stage. "I wish I could have seen the look on his face. It's a shame, though. Tell me, is it only thunder, or do you hate rain, too?"

"I'm not a fan of it," Haruhi replied easily. "I tend to associate it with thunder, and anyhow it traps me in the house, I can't go out and do any chores or anything without getting wet. Why is it a shame?" she asked. Nekozawa hummed in thought.

"I like the rain," he said. "I like how it smells, how it sounds when it hits glass, how it ripples on the water. I even like lightening and thunder."

"You like how it blocks out the sun," she added with a small smile, and Nekozawa laughed.

"An added benefit," he grinned. He then put his finger to his lips thoughtfully as a question occurred to him.

"If you don't mind, may I ask you a personal question, Haruhi?"

"Sure, I guess," Haruhi replied warily, raising her eyes to him.

"Well, you just seem so practical and reasonable, I would never have thought you the type to join Suoh's club. May I ask what drew you to it?"

"A series of accidents, actually," she replied dejectedly with a heavy sigh. "You're right, I wouldn't have joined this club before, but due to circumstances out of my control I'm in it now. Its ridiculously frivolous, but really not all that bad. I don't mind it."

"And…" he kept his head low, his dark hair over his eyes and face to try and cover the small blush tinting his cheeks, "your club members… you like them? They treat you well?"

Haruhi eyed him suspiciously before slowly answering "Yes."

Nekozawa's face burned with embarrassment, and he found himself wishing that he had his cloak on so that he could pull up the hood and hide further. It didn't occur to him what the question he really wanted to ask was until he'd already begun speaking, and by then it was too late to stop. But how to phrase it was a problem all on its own. He couldn't just come out and ask how Haruhi felt about Tamaki, but ever since the image came to his mind of the two of them embracing, the question had plagued him. Nekozawa bit his lip.

"Are there… any of them that you favor?" He asked carefully as his heart rate sped up. Haruhi frowned.

"Nekozawa-Senpai… are you asking…"

_Damn,_ he thought as his heart pounded in his chest, _I was too obvious! _Haruhi must have seen through the question into what he was really trying to ask. How would she judge him?

"Do you…" she leaned in closer, noting how red his face was, though he was trying to hide it. He bit his lip again, a gesture she was starting to recognize as being how he expressed discomfort. The habit was a little endearing.

"Do you…"

He could hear his blood pounding in his ears, and thought that if his face turned any redder it would surely burst into flames.

"…want to join the Host Club?"

"Do I _what?_" He turned to her, his blue eyes visible through his hair expressing the greatest surprise at her question. "Do I… _why?_" he asked, clearly flabbergasted.

"Well, you drop by all the time, and I know you're pretty good looking when you aren't trying to hide. I thought you wanted to join the club," she explained simply.

"No, that… that wasn't… I'm not interested in that," he replied, relieved but at the same time sort of embarrassed by the misunderstanding. "I just like your club members, is all. Well- I like Suoh-Kun, and you." The words escaped him before he could stop himself. For half a second, he was sure his heart stopped. But Haruhi smiled.

"I like your club members, too, Senpai," she said. "And you, too."

"Thank you," he blushed. He then composed himself, and smiled wickedly at her. "I wouldn't be suited for your club, I'm sure I would just frighten your guests. Besides, why would I need to join the Host Club when I'm the president of the Black Magic Club? _Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven._"

"_Who would not, finding way, break loose from Hell, and boldly venture to whatever place farthest from pain?_" she quoted back without missing a beat. Nekozawa stared at her, stunned.

"You know Milton!" He exclaimed, delighted.

"I found him to be a little wordy but it was an interesting perspective," she shrugged. "To read from the devil's point of view."

"Now you're thinking like a Black Magic Club member," he grinned darkly. "We _always_ see the devil's point of view."

"That's debatable," Haruhi replied suddenly, smiling affectionately. "You have more good in you than you let people know about."

Nekozawa hesitated, dumbstruck by her words. What good did she see in him, when no one else bothered to look? How deeply into him could she see?

"Don't… spread that around," he shyly responded, his cheeks lighting again as he turned away. "You'll ruin my reputation."

The two of them listened in silence for a while as one song ended and a new song began. After a moment, Haruhi sighed.

"I don't think anyone is coming. I don't really understand the point of all this."

Nekozawa suspected he might understand, but chose not to say anything to that effect. He sighed as well.

"You're right. Perhaps he was held up. I guess we shouldn't wait any longer."

Haruhi stood up, and stepped out into the aisle, followed quickly by her senior, who retrieved his cloak folded over a seat. Haruhi bowed to him politely.

"Thank you for keeping me company. Sorry to take up your time."

"It was my pleasure, Haruhi. Thank you for talking with me. I enjoy your company," Nekozawa replied, returning the bow. He watched as Haruhi turned towards the exit and opened the door into the lobby. She stopped before stepping through.

"Nekozawa-Senpai," she called without turning, her hand on the door. "…I like it, too."

"…Like what?" he asked curiously. She didn't turn around.

"The sound of rain on glass."

She shut the door behind her.


	7. Rhapsodomancy

It should probably be noted that I follow manga canon more than anime canon. Nekozawa makes a lot more appearances in the manga. Most notably, the episode where they all went to the beach house- you know, the one with _that scene_ with Kyouya?- that actually took place on Nekozawa's property, and it was there that we discovered his blond-ness. It was rad.

More love to my wicked cool beta, Leafygirl.

* * *

The flickering, uncertain light of the candelabras cast dark, exaggerated shadows across the dim room, dancing erratically in the light breeze as Nekozawa breathed steadily, concentrating.

He sat silently on the floor in a magic circle he had drawn around a dark altar, adorned with ancient relics of unfathomable power, cat-shaped representations of evil deities, dripping candle wax, twisted daggers, the occasional drop of blood, and one empty Coke bottle not yet discarded. It was here that he performed his nightly worship, thanked the dark forces for their continued divine protection, offered his eternal services, and (if it wasn't too much to ask,) beseeched them to help Kirimi overcome her fear of the darkness. As ever, Bereznoff sat with him, listening quietly. Bereznoff did not have to pray.

The small flames of the candles jumped, threatening to go out as Nekozawa exhaled in a drawn out sigh. Raising his arms above his head to stretch out his back and fall into a more relaxed position, he finished his ritual and broke his concentration, turning his eyes up towards the light of the candles with some disinterest. The spiritual exercise was a little draining, but the more he did it, surely, the more powerful he would become. Mindlessly, he picked up a tarot deck and began to shuffle it, allowing his thoughts to wander in a sleepy, post-magic daze. He thought that he would like to have some tea in a moment, when he was ready to stand up, and then perhaps go to sleep, although maybe he should start reading that book for class. Idly, Nekozawa turned over the card on the top of the deck.

The two of cups. Love and friendship.

The same as Haruhi's.

Haruhi.

It was impossible now for his thoughts not to linger on the underclassman. An image of bright eyes and a warm smile came to mind; an image of a dark theater and a tug at his sleeve, of soft, feminine hands as he traced the grooves worn into her palm, of an annoyed roll of brown eyes, _Paradise Lost_, and the sound of rain on glass. A shy smile tugged at the corners of his lips, and his chest warmed- for a moment he could feel his heartbeat, as it seemed to be trying to pound out a message in Morse code. Nekozawa stared at the card for a while, and placed it on the altar.

So. Even the Powers That Be were trying to point him somewhere. Perhaps his club members weren't so idiotic, after all. They had been trying to tell him all along something that took the flip of a card for him to understand. He could try to rationalize it all he wanted, but he couldn't deny that he'd spend more time in a day thinking about Haruhi than he would thinking about just about anything else, even curses. He would exhaust his brain trying to think of excuses to see her, and what he would say if he did. His actions with her were different than when he was with anyone else. By now, it was safe to say that his feelings for her ran a little deeper than simple platonic affection.

How deep, he did not know.

The flame of one of the candles sizzled then, as if trying to call his attention. The hot wax pooling at the wick, having just been melted by the fire, now dripped a crevasse out the side of the candle and slid down, falling off the base to pool lightly beside his tarot deck, where it cooled and re-solidified. Nekozawa stared at it, as if trying to decipher it, when out of the corner of his eye he saw Bereznoff staring back at him. Backlit before the candlelight, the cat glared at his puppeteer, as if scolding him for forgetting something important. There was a very simple solution to this, this confusion.

The sorcerer then looked around, noticing his altar as if he had forgotten where he was sitting. Dark forces seemed to be emanating from the area, surrounding him, enticing him, reminding him of his very special talents that would be perfect for this situation, of how easily he could get what he wanted if he would just draw on their power.

Magic.

_No,_ Nekozawa resisted, shaking his head. _Not this time. Not for this._ What he was feeling was too real, embedded too deeply, coming from a place within him he didn't dare meddle with, for fear of only cursing himself. If Haruhi was ever going feel anything for him, he wanted it to happen naturally, unaided by his black arts. Or at least… not yet.

The puppet stared at him patiently.

_Although,_ he thought to himself, pondering, _I don't have to cast a very powerful spell… perhaps just something to plant the idea, and let things flow from there…_

Bereznoff seemed to smile at that, though perhaps it was just the lighting in the room making it appear that way. Nekozawa picked up one of his heavy leather-bound spell books, and turned to exactly the right page, as if he'd been told where to look. He stared at the inscriptions, seeing it without reading it, torn with indecision.

Finally, with a defeated sigh, he snapped the book shut. He could immediately feel the anger of the black magic surrounding him, offended that he would deny this opportunity. Bereznoff continued to stare, as if to say, 'I haven't given up yet. You've cast this spell before.'

_But that ended horribly,_ Nekozawa reminded his familiar, recalling the very brief relationship he'd held with a classmate two years ago after casting a love spell. The spell had worn off, her feelings faded, and finally, as if in punishment for tampering with such powerful emotions, her opinion of him reversed and she came to hate him. All his attempts to sway her to the contrary only seemed to intensify her feelings of dislike, until he had given up. He wouldn't let that happen again- especially not with Haruhi.

"I should be able to do it myself," he said aloud, anger and perhaps a hint of embarrassment tinting his voice. "If Suoh can do it, surely I can as well!"

Bereznoff continued to stare, never judging, neither confirming nor denying, only seeming to say, 'just think about it. When this new one's feelings are still unknown to you, you'll become impatient. We'll be here to speed this process up.'

Nekozawa turned away, but he could still feel Bereznoff staring at him with his angry fabric eyes. Standing up, he began blowing out the candles, averting his gaze from the doll, all the while wondering if maybe he'd put just a few too many enchantments on this cat-shaped assortment of felt and glue which seemed to know so much. He was actually starting to wonder just who the puppet was.

* * *

To Nekozawa's great surprise (and probably the surprise of anyone else who might have known) it was Haruhi who next sought him out. And on purpose, even. She came up to him very suddenly in the second library one afternoon, finding him in a dark corner of the biographies section where others rarely came (thus the appeal, in his opinion).

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she caught a glimpse of his gloomy black cowl, and smiled. "There you are, Senpai."

"Oh, Haruhi!" He turned to her in surprise. "Hello. May I help you with something...?"

He realized when he said it that it may have sounded like a brush-off, and bit his lip nervously. "I mean, sorry. It's very nice to see you. I was just… were you _looking_ for me…?"

"You know, you're very much like a ghost, Nekozawa-Senpai," she stated plainly, surprising him slightly. "You come out of nowhere when I'm not expecting you, but when I need to find you, you're nowhere in sight."

He beamed, a delighted smile stretching across his face at both the comparison to a spirit, and to the idea that Haruhi had been looking for him.

"I thank you for the compliment," he grinned eerily, his hood lowering over his eyes. "I do my best to meet expectations. Now, to what end do you seek my council? If it's a spell you need cast, I'll give you the Friends-of-Black-Magic discount. In fact, I would do it for free just for kicks," he added with a low chuckle.

"Actually," she began, "I was hoping you had a book I could borrow. I remembered we were talking about _Paradise Lost_ a while ago, and thought maybe you might have this one as well, since it sort of seemed your style. I wanted to borrow it from one of the libraries, but I can't seem to find it, and I would go buy it but I thought I'd maybe see if you happened to have it first, and would loan it to me."

"I will absolutely help you, it would be my pleasure," he replied, smiling in a manner that belied his dark demeanor and would have surely confused and possibly frightened anyone passing by. "What is this book?"

(If he didn't have it, he would go and buy it.)

"William Blake, _Songs of Innocence_ and _Songs of Experience_. Do you have it?"

"Oh!" he exclaimed, "I do have that!" And he really did have that. "You're right, I love his poetry. Have you read it before?"

"I've been meaning to, but haven't had the opportunity," she replied.

"Well, it pleases me to be the one to present you with that opportunity," Nekozawa smiled. "I'll bring it to school tomorrow, or do you need it sooner? I can swing it by your house tonight if you'd like…"

"No no, at school is fine." She smiled a little awkwardly. "But I don't want to hunt you down again. Where should I meet you?"

Nekozawa folded his arms in thought, and hummed. "I don't have a club meeting tomorrow, but maybe you can meet me at the club room after school…?"

"That's fine. I'm glad. Thank you very much, Nekozawa-Senpai! You've saved me some trouble!" She bowed gratefully.

"Think nothing of it," he replied, waving his hand dismissively. Haruhi cocked her eyebrow curiously then, as if she suddenly realized that something was wrong.

"…Did you lose Bereznoff again?" she asked. Nekozawa blinked, and looked at his bare hand.

"Oh… wow, you are observant," he laughed, impressed. "No, he's at home today. Bereznoff and I had a bit of a… _disagreement_ last night."

Haruhi chose not to question it.

* * *

Bereznoff had not given up. From his place at the altar he continued to stare at the stubborn boy, as patient as ever.

_Suoh's talents are Suoh's talents. Your talents are your talents. Use them!_

"I don't need to," Nekozawa insisted, rummaging though his bookshelf, leaving piles of discarded books on the floor. "You're starting to annoy me, Bereznoff."

He couldn't hear anything, but Bereznoff's irritation seemed palpable throughout the room.

"Really," Nekozawa continued, "Haruhi came to me today, on purpose even. I believe I have a chance to do this without manipulating anyone's feelings. You _know_ how I feel about love spells, Bereznoff," he bit, turning an angry glare towards the doll.

The doll angrily glared back.

A moment of heated silence passed. Finally, Nekozawa turned away, running an aggravated hand through his pale blond hair.

"I know I own this book. I just wish I knew where I put it!"

_You are looking on the wrong shelf._

The boy glanced at Bereznoff briefly and then sighed, standing up. He brushed a platinum blond lock behind his ear.

"I need to invent some method of organization."

* * *

As per their agreement, Nekozawa and Haruhi met the next day at the Black Magic Club office after class. Nekozawa had finally found the book after forty five minutes of searching, and exhausted, had left his room in disarray to be reorganized (or organized at all) later. As usual, when Haruhi entered, Nekozawa was already there, reading by candlelight.

"I can't imagine that's very good for your eyes," she commented as she crossed the room towards him, drawing his attention. "Reading in the dark." He smiled slowly, snapping the book shut.

"After all these years, I think it would be reading in anything _but_ darkness that would damage my vision," he replied. "Unless the material was written on black paper, perhaps. Now! What is this assignment of yours?" Nekozawa held up the book with a sly smile, one that seemed to convey the message that she wasn't going to get away with just taking the book and leaving, she would have to stay a while first. Unbothered, Haruhi sat across from him on the couch, making herself comfortable.

"We're supposed to take two poems from the same author and write a comparative paper," she explained. "More people picked Blake than I expected- unless I just got lost in the massive library system at this school and don't know where to look," she added a little dryly.

"Ah, what a perfect subject you've picked to fit this project," he beamed, delighting in the conversation. "Many of these poems were meant to be read as contradiction to one another."

"That's what I'd heard."

"Do you mind staying for a bit? I'd love to hear your thoughts," he asked a little excitedly, and Haruhi could tell that he was very interested in the subject. Perhaps he wanted to have an intelligent conversation on literature with someone outside of his club, which he likely got very few chances to do. Likewise intrigued to hear his opinions, Haruhi agreed. She also didn't have very many people she could have a deep conversation with about poetry, and anyhow, had a feeling that Nekozawa would have a very _unique_ perspective.

While at first he had only intended to read her his favorites, because the poems were quite short the two of them ended up reading nearly all and discussing them at great length. Haruhi had even taken out a notebook and begun writing notes for her paper based on their conversation. Each of them provided insight that the other wouldn't have thought of; Nekozawa was fascinated by Haruhi's analytical abilities, and Haruhi was impressed at Nekozawa's emotional insight. Between the two of them they ended up going through each line of each poem and discussing all possible interpretations for it. And when they had run out of things to say about the words, they began discussing the illustrations, dissecting the meaning behind each colour and shape, and whether it was meant to be read as a part of the poetry or just to accentuate it.

It was a great relief for both of them to be able to hold a real conversation about a subject they were interested in with another person. Until that point, Haruhi had assumed she was the only one in the school who wanted to read and learn and debate, and Nekozawa had resigned himself to thinking that even if someone did have an interesting opinion, they wouldn't want to share it with him (he hoped for fear of getting cursed, but knew the reasons were largely more shallow than that). Before they knew it, several hours had passed, and it was well into evening. Haruhi had a book full of notes, and was trying to narrow down which poems she should write her paper on.

"Maybe _Tyger_ and _Lamb_. I took a lot of notes for them, I bet it could be a good paper," she pondered. Nekozawa shook his head in disagreement

"No, no, that's so simple. Everyone knows that poem. I think you should do the two versions of _Little Girl Lost_, that's what I would write about."

"But both of those are in the same book, I wanted to write about one from _Innocence_ and one from _Experience_."

"Okay. I have an idea." Taking out a piece of paper, Nekozawa tore it in half and wrote down the name of both poems, one on each half. Setting them on the table, he placed a pencil between the two slips and spun it.

"The forces of evil will decide for us," he explained, nodding.

"That's silly!" she exclaimed. The pencil slowed to a stop, pointing closest towards the slip reading _Little Girl Lost_ in her senior's elegant handwritin_g_. Nekozawa smiled wickedly.

"It has been decided."

"I'm not relying on that!" Haruhi argued. "I don't have to decide today. I'd rather think about it than leave it to chance like that."

"It isn't chance. It's fate," he corrected, that same smile still crossing his lips. "I don't believe in coincidence."

"Well, I don't believe in fate," she replied plainly. "Just circumstances and timing."

"How dull," he frowned. "After everything that's happened to you- coming to this school despite status, joining the Host Club despite disinterest- you don't think it was destiny?"

"I got into Ouran because I was the best scholarship applicant," she explained very seriously, "And I joined the Host Club because of my own accident. There were no external forces involved."

He leaned forward then, his hands folded under his chin, a light, vicious smile on his lips. His eyes caught the reflection of the candlelight from under his hood, and for an instant, the small dancing flames she saw in them entranced Haruhi. For one heart-stopping moment, Nekozawa looked every bit the spirit of darkness he presented himself to be.

"Well, I believe," he began in a low, captivating voice that caught the girl's attention. "Because I believe that during that time I lost Bereznoff, he and I had been fated to be separated there, and you had been fated to return him. He had gone to find you. And bring you back to me."

Haruhi's face suddenly felt warm, and she became aware of her own heartbeat. Somehow, the implications of what he'd said had made her a little anxious, but it wasn't just the words. It was also his deep, rich voice, the sly smile ghosting his pale lips, the glow of the candlelight on his skin, and the fire reflecting in his blue eyes like the ocean at sunset. Haruhi found herself curiously alarmed.

"And why would that be?" she asked, doing her best to hide her unease. Nekozawa stood up then, and walked around behind the couch she was sitting at. Resting his arms on the ledge directly behind her, he leaned forward, his face so close to her own he could nearly brush her skin. Haruhi fought hard against the blush creeping up her face.

"Perhaps so that you could borrow this book," he mused, "and get an excellent grade on your paper."

She could feel his warm breath on her ear, and it tickled, but she couldn't seem to convince herself to move. It was strange. Had it been Tamaki or Hikaru or Kaoru or anyone else, she would have wasted no time scooting down the sofa and out of reach. What was it that was different about the Black Magic Club president? How was he able to succeed in flustering her where no one ever had before?

The fact that she was trying so hard not to react was a sure enough sign to Nekozawa that he was affecting her. Encouraged by this, he ventured further still, placing a light hand on her shoulder and slowly, gently, grazing her sleeve with his fingers, past her bicep, her elbow, her forearm, to her wrist, where he lifted her hand, palm up, brushing his fingertips against her knuckles.

"Do you remember when I read your palm?" he asked, his voice distant and amused. When he spoke, she could feel the heat of his breath on her neck, and the dark hairs of his wig on her cheek. Haruhi shivered, and replied, "Vaguely." Nekozawa smirked.

He hadn't really been thinking about it when he'd leaned over the table and told her of his belief in destiny, but it hadn't escaped his notice that she was reacting to it, to something he was doing. The difference was subtle, but there, and he couldn't help but to think, she was responding to _him_. Her actions, the way her eyes widened and her shoulders tensed, enticed him. He was surprising her somehow. What else could he do to off-balance her? How much farther could he take this? What else would Haruhi do?

Reaching his other hand around her, he traced his fingers across the lines in her palm. He now had his arms around her, capturing her hand in both on his, and even he could feel the heat on her skin from the contact. He smiled devilishly.

"Do you know why I stopped here, at your line of love?" he began, running his nails lightly over one of the creases in her palm.

"Because there's nothing to say?" she offered.

"Because I wanted you to think about it," he replied, the wry smirk clear in his voice.

Haruhi frowned. Think about what? What was he getting at? She didn't understand. Was he aiming for something with this, or was he just trying to confuse her? If there was something she was supposed to be thinking about during that palm reading session, he needed to tell her because she wouldn't have known otherwise.

She thought about telling him all these things when he pulled away suddenly, releasing her hand and standing up straight, backing away from the couch. Haruhi thought that the room abruptly felt quite cold.

"It's getting late," he noted in a somewhat morose tone. "You'll probably be wanting to head back."

If he'd stayed in that position much longer, with his arms around her, whispering into her ear, he didn't know what would happen next. And he'd rather maintain more control than that, curiosity be damned.

Wordlessly agreeing, Haruhi packed up her schoolbag, and stood, beginning a short walk to the door. There, she stopped. Nekozawa was behind her.

"Thank you for loaning me this book…" She bowed gratefully, "and for helping me with my paper. You have a very unique outlook on things, Nekozawa-Senpai."

"Thank you for staying and having a conversation with me," he smiled in return. "I unfortunately get very few chances to have one. It was a pleasure."

"That's a shame," she said, tilting her head slightly. "I think more people would want to talk with you if they knew what an intelligent person you are."

He smiled abashedly. "Thank you. But you may be the only one who will ever know that. People don't… generally want to talk to me."

"Perhaps if you stopped threatening to curse every one and every thing," she retorted scoldingly, folding her arms. Nekozawa laughed.

"But then how would they ever remember who I am?" he replied, grinning mischievously, and making Haruhi giggle.

That first day she'd come by, Bereznoff in hand, and when he'd given her that fortune telling, he actually didn't suspect he would see her again after that except in passing. So he decided to leave her with something to think about, and left off half finished, in hopes that she would consider what he'd said, and _maybe_, curiosity would bring her back. But it seemed he was more accurate than he'd even intended. He _did_ want Haruhi to think about love. And he wanted her to think about him.

Did she ever think of him?

She hadn't left yet. Haruhi was still looking up at him, even through his silence. He felt like there was an opportunity there, and he wanted to take it.

How much more would she let him get away with?

Tentatively, he reached his hand forward. When she did not move away from him, he continued more boldly. He brushed his pale, slender fingers across the hair in front of her face, noticing immediately that her cheeks turned a little pink. She was blushing for him. He smiled.

"You aren't frightened of me, are you?" he asked. "You never have been."

"I don't see why I should be," Haruhi replied. She was fighting hard to slow her pounding heart. "I don't believe I have anything to fear from you."

"Others would disagree," he commented. He was tracing a line down her jaw to her neck, feeling her hair rise under his touch. He smirked darkly.

"Others… judge too quickly," she responded, but found she was having a hard time articulating her words with his fingers so gently caressing her skin.

His eyes weren't reflecting any light this time, but she could still see the fire in them. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if this was how he cast spells on people, because she could not seem to compel herself to turn away. He smiled again with wicked glee.

"But not you."

"I don't take things at face value," she explained. "Appearances don't matter. Light or dark, pretty or plain, male or female, none of that matters. It only matters what sort of person you are."

Nekozawa paused. A look of amazement drifted briefly across his features. When she spoke those words, somehow, it was like an enormous weight had been lifted. Now he understood why she was so adored by her club mates and her fans. Such a pure and honest philosophy gave everyone a chance, even him.

"Thank you," Nekozawa said genuinely, and Haruhi thought that in that moment she could truly see him under his veil of darkness. "That was what I wanted to hear."

And then he did something that surprised them both. He kissed her.

The movement was so sudden that he didn't know he was even going to do it until his lips were pressed firmly against hers. It took Haruhi several seconds to realize it was happening. But when she did realize, she didn't pull away. The part that may have startled her most was not the unexpected kiss, but the fact that it didn't bother her, not at all.

Was that okay?

For a brief moment, they stayed that way.

Nekozawa pulled away abruptly, and she was struck by the sudden loss of contact. Instantly both of their faces went aflame as the weight of what had just transpired occurred to them.

Too far. He had gone too far. That was too much. He had acted impulsively, and now Haruhi would surely never speak to him again. His heart was pounding as he was overcome with guilt. What should he say after such a thing? Would she let him apologize?

"I… Haruhi, I'm-"

"I have to go," she interrupted him, avoiding his eyes. Quickly, she turned and left, closing the door behind her before he could get out another word. Nekozawa covered his burning face with his hands.

_Oh, I am so stupid!_

Haruhi fled the art department, walking as quickly as she could without running. She didn't know why, but she had to get away. She didn't want to be there anymore.

Nekozawa had kissed her. He'd kissed her. And she didn't fight it. Was that okay? What should she have done? What would have been the appropriate response?

Probably not running away, she realized with some regret, frowning to herself. But she couldn't think of what to do. She shouldn't be kissing boys. She didn't come to Ouran to play; she came to work.

Unconsciously, she touched her lips. Nekozawa's lips were warm, and soft.

How had it come to that? She could have prevented it. She could have moved away when he had his arms around her on the couch. She could have removed his hand when he was touching her cheek. She could have looked away, instead of staring into his eyes. What was she supposed to do now? Should she tell anyone? What would she say when she next saw Nekozawa?

Nekozawa had kissed her- her first real kiss from a boy.

Suddenly, Haruhi stopped dead in her tracks. The colour drained from her face and her blood seemed to run cold as she was struck by a terrifying realization.

_…Nekozawa still thinks _I'm_ a BOY!_


	8. Pendulum

In which I finally answer the question my reviews have been asking about since chapter one, forcing me to wonder if I'll get any more reviews after this, now that you have nothing left to ask? Once again, a million thanks to Leafygirl for her mad beta skillz.

* * *

Never in her life had Haruhi ever felt the need to avoid anyone. Even when she suffered the bully problem in sixth grade, she had believed in facing her problems instead of running away. She was willing to confront anything that would challenge her, because it was the fastest solution to any problem, and she was a problem solver.

And yet, she found that she was avoiding Nekozawa.

She stayed away from the second library where she knew he lurked in the biographies section, slipped down separate corridors if she happened to see him in the hallway, and dared not go near the art department. She just couldn't bring herself to face him. Not yet.

It was exhausting and really very embarrassing, and she felt every day like she was becoming a worse person for doing it. She didn't want to feel like she had to sneak around, and hated the feeling of not wanting to see someone. It irritated her endlessly that she was behaving this way. But she simply had no other answers.

He had kissed her. And he had meant it. And now she didn't know what to do. It never occurred to Haruhi that Nekozawa had these feelings before which were now blatantly obvious. But why would it have? They were friends, study mates, nothing more, or so she thought. And now she was forced to ask herself questions like, had he been planning to kiss her? Or did it just happen? The look on his face afterward implied the latter, or could that have been his reaction to the look on her face- which was probably something akin to shock and embarrassment? It just didn't seem to make sense. She never would have believed it, before, but it couldn't be denied now. Whichever it was, it spelled trouble for Haruhi. She hadn't anticipated their relationship ever being anything other than friendship. And then he had to go and start crossing lines.

She shouldn't have run away. She shouldn't _be_ running away. She needed to talk to him. She needed to turn him down, and maybe it wouldn't be too late to save their friendship. She really did want to salvage that- in the last few months, he had become a good friend, much like her club members. It would be terrible if that were to be destroyed, after they had become so close. There were still so many more things she wanted to talk with him about, books and poetry and philosophy and all of it, she didn't want anything to change. There had to be a way out of this as painlessly as possible. But she would only succeed if she acted soon, and it would have to be soon, because leaving Nekozawa alone after such an incident for too long could only make things worse. She couldn't hide forever.

But saying was easier than doing. She could tell herself these things all day- be strong, have confidence, it's time- but she just couldn't bring herself to come face to face with him.

She was usually so honest and blunt, because she believed in getting straight to the point, and that flowery, exaggerated prose was just a waste of time and made things confusing. But if Nekozawa really did have some feelings for her, then she would hurt him. Haruhi didn't want to hurt him. She just couldn't bear the thought of seeing sadness in his ocean coloured eyes. Oh, why hadn't she noticed his feelings sooner, so she would have had the chance to define their friendship early on like she'd done with Kasanoda?

She was afraid to break Nekozawa's heart. But had this been the only reason for her discomfort, she would have sought him out already. After all, Haruhi had turned down boys before, even good friends, and it couldn't be good for their friendship that she was waiting so long. There was more holding her back this time. And that was what confused her the most. Some part of her was fighting her inevitable rejection. The same part of her that warmed her cheeks when she thought of his eyes, his voice, his fingers; the same part of her that sped up her heart when she thought of the kiss. Somewhere, she was thrilled that he was attracted to her. And that same part of her was devastated that Nekozawa thought that Haruhi was a boy.

She should have considered that this truth would only make it easier for her to turn him down. After all, if he wasn't interested in girls, there would be no issue, and they could go on as friends, though surely he would be a little confused at first. But instead of focusing on this, Haruhi could only manage to be disappointed. It hurt a little to think that Nekozawa was only interested in her out of some misunderstanding (or worse, even- a _lie_). It hurt a little to think that he would be appalled by the idea of kissing her again.

But it was impractical to think this way. She needed to ignore that little part of her, reject it, shove it away, because it would only bring unnecessary drama, and she just wanted to study. Let the rich kids have their theatrical relationships and soap opera love stories, and she would go on as she had been, because that was what was important. Now was not the time for dating. It only confused priorities, and not_everyone_ in this school had a trust fund to fall back on. Surely he would understand that.

Haruhi knew she would have to talk to Nekozawa soon, and explain the truth to him. She had to. Because she knew that if she didn't, and he came to her, with that fire in his eyes, she would be able to do nothing to stop him. And it broke her heart.

And anyhow, she needed to return his book.

* * *

Despite her own personal turmoil, life went on as usual, as it had an obnoxious habit of doing. Whether she wanted to or not, Haruhi continued to go to class, do her homework, and attend club meetings. As she entered the third music room one afternoon, a little late as usual, she walked over to the supply closet to get some extra napkins for the snacks only to turn around to find herself facing the club vice president, standing directly in her way, the light reflecting off his glasses in a most menacing fashion.

"It's been about two weeks now," Kyouya began in a cold, practical manner, his eyes on the pages of his open notebook. "That's about time. Will we be seeing any more members of the Black Magic Club today?..."

For a moment, she felt a knot in her stomach tighten with anxiety. At first, Haruhi was surprised by his abruptness, but then sort of annoyed. She sighed in defeat, narrowing her eyes to emphasize her irritation. For some reason it hadn't occurred to her that Kyouya would have noticed and been documenting everyone who came into the club room, and might have noticed some pattern between the arrivals of members of the Black Magic Club She didn't know how many members he recognized, but she assumed he knew them all. Recently, every member but Reiko had been by at least once. Still though, she should have realized that of all people, Kyouya would be the first one to ask her about the Black Magic Club's sudden interest in her.

"Beats me," she replied standoffishly. "It's not like I'm inviting them." Haruhi scowled, moving to get around him. He let her by, turning smoothly to watch her back, a thin, wry smirk on his lips.

"I believe you," he responded coolly. "So what's bringing them here, then, I wonder…?"

She turned to glance at him over his shoulder, and he caught her eyes in his dark, piercing gaze, smiling his evil businessman smile. Then, without another word, he turned away, writing something down in his notebook as he walked. Haruhi sighed, and took the napkins over to the snack table Hunny had already fortified, and dropped them carelessly next to the teapot, frowning. The small senior looked at her with some concern, and then smiled as brightly as he could, as if the act alone would wash away all of her worries.

"Don't be mad, Haru-Chan!" he exclaimed in his uniquely adorable way. "Kyo-Chan is scary, but he wouldn't hurt you!"

For half a second, she thought she caught a glimmer in his eye that seemed to convey: _I wouldn't let him_. But it was so slight, it was gone before she even recognized it.

"Ah, no, it's nothing like that, Hunny-Senpai," Haruhi waved her hand dismissively, forcing an awkward smile. "He wasn't frightening me."

"Really? That's good!" he replied. Suddenly, his face changed, shifting his smile from radiated sunshine to a softer, wiser smile, that of a knowing elder.

"…But it is_something_… right?" he asked. Haruhi's eyes widened momentarily, and then lowered, as if shamefully. Her shoulders slumped, and she tried smiling again, though pitifully.

"Hmm, I didn't realize I was being obvious," she replied abashedly. "It's nothing to worry about. Sorry for concerning you, Senpai."

"Haruhi."

She was startled by how seriously he said her name, as if he could read right through her. She suddenly felt very heavy, like the weight of everything was just too much. If her distraction was now obvious to her club mates, how much farther was this going to go?

Slowly raising her head she looked into Hunny's wide brown eyes as he smiled kindly, compassionately. He was so small it was easy to forget that he was her Senpai; the honorific rolled off her tongue automatically when she said his name, with no thought attached. For a moment she felt like she wanted to tell him everything, everything that was bothering her. But she decided against it.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Senpai," she bowed slightly, finally letting her frustration show on her face, followed quickly by a look of personal disappointment. "I didn't mean to be a cause for worry. Something has been bothering me, but I'll work it out."

"You promise?" he asked expectantly with an innocent smile. Haruhi took a breath and finally smiled for real, nodding. Hunny's usual bright smile returned to his face.

"Good!" he exclaimed. "Don't forget, now! It's a promise! Cheer up, Haru-Chan! 'Kay?"

He then turned on his heel and sped towards an awaiting group of girls sitting with Mori, and threw up his arms to announce his arrival, to which the girls squealed delightedly.

Haruhi sighed deeply. All right, then. Today. She would talk to Nekozawa today.

* * *

_Stupid, stupid, I'm so stupid!_

It had been too many days since Nekozawa had last seen Haruhi. Too many days to suffer his humiliation, too many days to wallow in regret. He still hadn't had a chance to apologize, to beg forgiveness, to explain that he hadn't been thinking, and to swear that it would never happen again… And worst of all, he knew he wouldn't get the chance as long as Haruhi deemed it so, because it was clear that she was avoiding him.

That was the most devastating part. He had seen her turn and walk the other way when they saw each other in the hallways, watched the way she carefully avoided areas where they'd met together before. Sadly, the look on her face when her eyes found him said that she wasn't retreating because she'd forgotten something back in the classroom. The idea that she couldn't even look at him anymore caused his heart to sink and his spirit to drop, and confused him as he thought back to that reckless act when he'd abandoned thought in favor of a single spontaneous act of physical closeness… because for a moment, he was _sure_ that Haruhi had kissed him back.

Deliberating over this for too many hours eventually threw Nekozawa into a state of melancholy, and he knew he would never recover so long as she refused to speak to him. This was much worse than when he had lost Bereznoff.

The puppet in question, meanwhile, was delighted, much to Nekozawa's chagrin, not because of the boy's torment, but because the deity knew that now it would be much simpler to convince his partner to cast the magic spells that they both knew he was capable of using. In fact, the doll had been incessant in his demands that now, more than ever, would be the perfect time to call upon dark forces to aide him. Infuriatingly, Nekozawa continued to refuse. But Bereznoff was patient. He knew the boy was just being stubborn. As soon as Nekozawa was able to finally capture Haruhi's attention and Haruhi rejected him once and for all, there would be nothing left for poor Umehito to fall back on. And Bereznoff would be there for him then.

Unlike Haruhi, who kept her turmoil on the inside, Nekozawa wore his emotions like a coat, and it was soon quite obvious to his club members that something had gone horribly wrong. Their president's agitation combined with the way he winced whenever Haruhi was mentioned made it quite simple to deduce the cause of the problem. Nekozawa refused to talk about it, only managing to confirm through some clever use of words on Taro's part that it was indeed Haruhi that had put him in this state, but they couldn't get him to explain any further, which only suggested to his club mates that the fault probably lay with their exalted leader. Each of them tried to cheer him up, offering in turn to cast a love spell or if nothing else at least a curse. But one by one he declined, thanking them politely for the thought before returning to his moody lamenting in the darkness.

"He's so romantic!" Shinobu sighed dreamily, clasping her hands to her chest. "Pining for the one who broke your heart… how tragic!"

"As poetic as it may look, it's probably not very healthy." Tokumi frowned in response. "I wish he would talk to us. It can't be good to keep it locked up like that."

"Maybe he doesn't keep it locked up. Anyone know if he's got a blog?" Jun asked, sitting on the couch beside Tokumi to watch their club president's brooding like a sideshow. Taro rolled his eyes but Shinobu pondered the question seriously. Finally, Taro stood up, and wordlessly strode over to Nekozawa while the others observed in silent curiosity.

"I believe our darling Shinobu and I are in agreement on this matter," he began, smiling theatrically. Nekozawa glanced up to meet Taro's eyes, and encouraged, he continued.

"Yes, it's quite beautiful to see such a perfect tragedy. _We have loved with a love that was more than love._ Truly splendid! You must be terribly happy to be so romantically miserable!" He sighed dreamily, mimicking Shinobu's action only moments ago. "If only I knew how it felt to be you- to love so strongly that it renders you hopelessly despondent! It absorbs your every thought and action!"

"Hey, now-" Nekozawa finally piqued, becoming annoyed, "I'm not_ despondent!_ And there's nothing 'splendid' about this!"

"My heart aches to experience such exquisite pain!" Taro continued wistfully, ignoring his president's objections and his heated glare. "What I wouldn't give to have seen Haruhi's spectacular rejection! It must have been a veritable work of art! You truly are a hero, Umehito!"

"Stop this! This is ridiculous!" Nekozawa jumped to his feet and leaned threateningly over Taro, his blue eyes flashing angrily. "This isn't _fun_! I'm not _enjoying_ this! You don't even have it right! There was no 'spectacular rejection', I just- I was just…"

"Oh, so, if Haruhi didn't reject you, he accepted your feelings?..."

"No! Haruhi didn't do anything!"

"He did_nothing_? You would think a person would react when someone is pouring out their heart to them…"

"I didn't do anything _like_ that! Where are you _getting_ this stuff?!" Nekozawa was becoming obviously flustered now, which some would consider a slight improvement.

"Oh, I think I see now!" Taro seemed to have a revelation. "You didn't say anything, and Haruhi didn't do anything… which means that you couldn't find the right words, so you attempted to express your feelings through action! But Haruhi didn't kiss you back, did he?"

"But Haruhi DID kiss me back! _That's_ why I-" Nekozawa stopped cold, his face burning with embarrassment as he realized that he couldn't take back what he'd just confessed. The audience gasped and applauded as Taro was able to finally get the story out of their currently red-faced president, who had redirected his mortification to severe loathing. He was now vehemently planning tortures for the tricky performer the likes of which the world had never seen as he slunk back into his chair and attempted to disappear.

"Don't be embarrassed, Umehito, no one is judging you," Taro continued, smiling. "We just wanted to know what we could do to help you."

"I'm not listening, and I don't need your help," Nekozawa snapped gruffly, humiliation still etched on his features. "Also, I'm kicking you out of my club. Go away forever."

"Well, we're all very glad to hear that you don't need our help," Taro replied. "Because it means you have a plan. Would you care to indulge us?"

"There is no plan! There isn't anything!" Nekozawa rose to his feet again, cutting an impressively terrifying figure for a moment, his muscles tense and his eyes flaming with rage. "Haruhi doesn't want to talk to me! He hates me! He's been avoiding me since it happened! I don't know what to do about it, and I very much doubt any of you can help me!"

"Good!" Taro exclaimed, which heavily confused Nekozawa, and it showed on his face as the new emotion quickly replaced his ire. "You're angry! That's much better than sulking! _Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war_! Now what will you do with this anger, Umehito?"

"Well,_punching you_ comes to mind-"

"Wonderful! And then what? Now this sentence should include the name 'Haruhi' somehow."

"What _can_ I do!?" Nekozawa broke down, the frustration and fear he'd been holding in all week was now clear on his desperate face as his eyes begged for an answer. Taro smiled compassionately.

"You can go find him right now before another minute passes!"

"But Haruhi won't speak with me!"

"He'll _have_ to speak with you if you request his table at the Host Club!" Taro finally concluded with a satisfactory smirk. The rapt audience cried out in shock at this outrageous suggestion. Nekozawa's mouth opened and closed a few times, aghast.

"I can't- that would never- I can't just go in there!" he exclaimed, exasperated.

"You can and have before. This time is only _barely_ different. Come on now, consider your options- go and find Haruhi where you _know_ he is, or continue your admittedly artistic but ultimately meaningless brooding. What do you say?"

The room hushed. The Black Magic Club watched in anxious fascination as their president pondered this query. Nekozawa knew Taro was right. Staying here was completely unproductive, and only worsened his mood. He couldn't give up on Haruhi. He had even thought about going to visit her at the Host Club before, but he had been too afraid to try. Now, however, he had no more time for hiding in fear. He had to talk to her, even if he had to get angry with her. Because he was _sure_ that she had kissed him back.

Having finally come to a decision, he looked at Taro, whose mask of wry indifference was cracking around the eyes with clear anticitaption- perhaps to know if his theatrical coaxing could come to fruition, or perhaps out of fear that Nekozawa really would punch him. The boy was rewarded was Nekozawa breathed a barely audible "Thank you" before sweeping quickly out of the room.

The Black Magic Club stared in awe at the door for a moment before turning back in amazement to Taro, who was smiling rather smugly.

"Wow," Jun began, breaking the silence. "That was the coolest thing I have ever seen, Taro. I take back _half_ the mean things I've ever said about you."

Taro raised a curious eyebrow. "Only half?"

"Yeah, well…. You're still a ponce."

* * *

Despite her status in the club being upgraded to a host, Haruhi was still the club's dog, and was still required to run out and perform errands during down time. While mildly irritated that her friends were so quick to act their class when it came to restocking supplies, Haruhi was also able to admit that she WAS the one who broke the vase, and so she took this time as an opportunity to get away from the club for a few moments to enjoy a breath of fresh air and a little alone time to lose herself in thought.

She was barely halfway down the hall, however, when a voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Haruhi."

She felt her chest constrict as color rose to her face; she knew that she didn't need to turn her head to see who had called her. Nekozawa stepped out of the shadow of a pillar and directly in to her path, looking as anxious as she assumed she probably looked herself. He glanced around for a moment, as if making sure they were alone. Then, raising a hand to his head, he completely surprised her when he brushed his thin fingers through his hair.

Until his fair, champagne-coloured hair fell around his face and eyes, and his usual black locks were being tucked awkwardly into his sleeve, Haruhi realized that she had _completely_ forgotten Nekozawa was wearing a wig.

Nekozawa bit his lip nervously, feeling exposed.

"I… I need to speak with you."

While to anyone else the act may have seemed peculiar, Haruhi correctly interpreted it as a sign of his sincerity. With a small sigh, she nodded, lowering her eyes. She knew that she had promised herself to have this talk with him today, but she'd expected to be ready. Still, no time like the present.

Nekozawa, meanwhile, was secretly thanking his lucky stars that he didn't actually have to go inside the club to find her. He'd heard about what happened when Ritsu Kasanoda had done that, and was loathe to share that fate. Somebody was looking out for him.

He lead her to a dark corner of the hallway, already feeling the weakening effects of having his wig off and his cowl down in broad daylight, but determined that she should take him seriously, if no other time than now. Haruhi followed in quiet understanding, not objecting to his choice of location. Finally, they stopped, and Nekozawa turned to her determinately, the very face of regret. He took a deep breath.

"Haruhi… Listen-"

"Nekozawa." She interrupted, and he stopped, clearly startled. Haruhi reached into her pocket. Whatever he had to say, it wasn't nearly as important as what she was about to reveal, because his reaction would determine whether or not he felt he needed to continue. She had unintentionally deceived him, as she needed to come clean. She was the wrong one, here- she was the one who needed to apologize.

Haruhi held up her school identification card for him to see, her gender in an obvious circle right by her name.

"I'm a girl, Nekozawa."

Nekozawa's mouth fell open in shock, and Haruhi could already feel her chest tighten with dread. He stared at the card for a moment, glancing back and forth between her and it. She continued, keeping her face blank.

"I'm sorry for misleading you. It wasn't my intention. I have my reasons for posing as a male student, and yes, the Host Club knows. I would appreciate if you didn't spread this around, but I felt you needed to know. It might… be important"

Nekozawa stared at her, perplexed. He seemed to be having a hard time digesting the information. Haruhi felt her heart speed up, awash with feelings of embarrassment and fear, her face burning.

"H-haruhi… you…" He stammered, his eyes wide. Haruhi couldn't do anything but stand there, silently apologizing, while her heart thundered against her ribcage and her blood pounded deafeningly in her ears. The world seemed to drown around her.

_I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lie to you._

"..You mean, you…."

She wanted to say, I'm sorry for running away. I hope we can get past this. I hope we can still be friends. I like you, Nekozawa. But nothing came out. What would he do? Would he be angry? Would he be sad? Was this what she should have done? The tension she suddenly felt was so thick it was choking her, and if her heart sank any lower, it was going to be digested in stomach acid, she just knew it. Nekozawa's eyes met hers, his bewilderment still clear on his face, and she half hoped that she would just hurry up and die, just to get it over with.

"You…"

_Here it comes_, she thought, setting her teeth in nervous anticipation.

"…You thought I… didn't _know?_"

Haruhi reeled as the words hit her like a truck. She stood completely dumbstruck for a moment, staring at him in shock. Thought he didn't know? Were they talking about the same thing? What did he mean by that?

Was he saying- it couldn't be- that he had known all along?!

Nekozawa's expression lightened to one of relief and understanding, as if he had just realized the solution to a very complex problem. "I… I tried to give you some hints that I knew, but I didn't want to come out and say it- I mean, I thought you had caught on- oh my _God_, you must have thought I was- well no _wonder_ you ran away!" He covered his face with one of his hands and chuckled at the entire situation. Haruhi was finally able to compose herself.

"How did you find out?" she asked mildly, hiding her surprise.

"When you all stayed at my summer house," he explained, "I noticed you were wearing a dress. And the others, the Host Club, they weren't shy about calling you 'princess' and 'she' and 'her', other things. I admit, I didn't even know it was a secret!" Nekozawa smiled in a charmingly bashful way. He then ran his fingers through his blond hair, and held up a lock for her to see.

"I think we both learned something interesting that night," he added, and although the silvery strands shone in the sunlight, his voice held a slight tone of wickedness that Haruhi associated with candles and darkness. It was familiar, and she found it oddly comforting.

"Well," she shook her head, as if trying to rattle her brain into cooperation. "That at least makes _that_ easier. Have you… told anyone else?"

"Oh, no," he replied easily. "I assumed you had your reasons- as I have mine." He smiled slightly at that, raising an eyebrow. "So I refer to you as 'he' around others. You can trust me- I'm _tremendously_ good at keeping secrets," Nekozawa finished darkly with a grin.

"I suppose you haven't proven anything but that," she shrugged. If he'd known the entire time and didn't say anything before, he certainly wasn't going to now. Still though, if he was able to just figure it out, then her club mates really were idiots. Did they want her to act like a boy, or a girl? It didn't matter to her but the duality was confusing.

A bead of sweat dripped down Nekozawa's face, and his breathing became shallower. He was beginning to feel a little dizzy. The sun was really starting to get to him. He wanted to pull his hood back up and find a nice dark room to recover in, before he embarrassed himself by passing out, but he still hadn't said what he came to say.

It took an abnormal amount of composure to do it, but Nekozawa drew himself up to his full height with royal grace, and bowed before Haruhi.

"Forgive me," he began sincerely. "I shouldn't have put you in that position last week. It was rude of me, and unfair to you. I won't let it happen again."

Haruhi was taken aback by his apology. Somehow, despite everything, she hadn't expected one from him. In fact, she had assumed that she would be the one who would need to apologize.

"Its okay," she sighed. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have avoided you afterwards. It was tactless. I hope we can still be friends?" she added questioningly.

He nodded with a vague smile, happy that she would be so quick to accept his apology.

"Of course. I would be honored to be called your friend."

Haruhi noticed that his voice sounded a little raspy. Not only that, but his skin was deathly pale, and he looked like he was shaking.

"Are you okay?" she asked with genuine concern. "I think you should get out of the sunlight."

"Ah- yes," he agreed meekly, wiping his forehead,

It struck Haruhi as interesting how he seemed so much more mild as a blond, compared to the self confidence he seemed to emanate while wearing his dark hair. She wondered just what the difference was.

"Well, then," he started, pulling his wig out of his sleeve, "I suppose I'll let you return to your club." Haruhi watched in curious fascination as, with a practiced hand, he brushed back his natural hair and deftly pulled his wig over his head in one swift motion. Not one hair was out of place. For a moment, the girl almost wanted to applaud such a talent.

Nekozawa turned unsteadily to leave, still suffering the debilitating effects of prolonged sun exposure as he pulled his hood down over his eyes, enveloping himself in comfortable darkness. With a last glance and a weak smile, he started down the hall, praying he would make it all the way back to the Theater Department without passing out..

"Nekozawa."

He stopped and turned back to Haruhi. She was looking at him very intently, and her steady gaze caused his cheeks to colour slightly.

"What you did last week," she began smoothly, "Did you mean it?"

There was no need to be shy now.

After a startled pause, his lips stretched into an honest smile.

"With all of my heart."

Haruhi blushed, momentarily speechless by his response, and Nekozawa's smile widened. Unfortunately, by some horrible curse, the fates seemed to decide that Nekozawa was just not allowed to be that cool, as he took a step forward, fell on to his knees, and promptly fainted dead away.


	9. Charms

A.N.- CORRECTIONS TIME. Has everyone seen the first chapter of volume ten? I'd seen the untranslated raws before, and the nameless faces of the Black Magic Club on pages two and three were what I based my interpretations of their personalities on, but it didn't occur to me how friendly and cheerful they actually are! You think I would have taken that as a visual cue. The biggest difference was that it actually said where their cub meets- the North Wing, in the basement. So we're going to say that the art department is in the North Wing. As for the basement, um… I guess I can put the rehearsal room in the basement, what the hell.

This chapter is un-beta'd and will probably be edited later. Sorry to make you all wait so long for this chapter. I wrote it all, hated it, and re-wrote it. Hope its worth the wait.

* * *

Having no real physical strength to speak of, Haruhi quickly realized that moving her unconscious upperclassman on her own would be nigh impossible. So, as discreetly as possible, she re-entered her clubroom and managed to flag down Mori, asking if she could get his help with something outside for a moment. He agreed, leaving Hunny alone with their clients to follow the girl.

Nekozawa was still lying pitifully on the ground when they exited, and besides him, there were now two young women pointing at him and giggling amongst themselves. When they caught the eyes of the two Host Club members, however, they quickly scattered, giddily ducking into the Third Music Room and leaving the three alone in the hall.

Haruhi didn't explain and Mori, bless his heart, didn't ask. Instead, with a nod of understanding, he hoisted the lithe man up and slung him over his broad shoulder as if the blond weighed nothing. In the process, Nekozawa's wig slipped off and landed on the floor, and Haruhi retrieved it, supposing that he would probably be wondering where it was when he came to.

Having never touched the item before, she marveled briefly on how soft the fine black hairs were. The wigs she was used to were mainly those of her father's friends from the drag bar, and Haruhi was asked to hold one once so as not to ruin it when at a party someone made themselves sick from drinking and disappeared into the bathroom for a while. The hair on that wig had been coarse and felt like plastic, and she quickly set it aside. But Nekozawa's didn't feel cheap at all. Holding the headpiece lightly between her fingers, Haruhi briefly entertained the idea that perhaps his real hair was even softer; it certainly looked like it would be.

But then it occurred to her to wonder just what this wig was made of, and she consequently grossed herself out by imagining that he was wearing barbershop remnants. Haruhi wisely decided not to dwell any further on the subject.

Mori quietly followed as Haruhi lead him down to the Theater Department, where she hoped Nekozawa's club members would be able to help him. She really didn't know where else to take him, she didn't know of any dark, unlocked room for him to recover in, besides a closet (which seemed a little undignified). She just hoped that the long walk through the sunbeams down to the Art Wing didn't aggravate his condition. This fear was guided by the fact that Nekozawa remained unconscious for the entire trip.

When they arrived at the theater rehearsal room, Haruhi paused, glancing to Nekozawa. She had hoped he would be awake by now and able to complete the trip himself, but it seemed that he was still in no condition to hold his own weight, though he did seem to be stirring a little, as if his body was finally beginning to cool down. She shifted her weight, torn in indecision. Mori was still supporting the boy, but his eyes were locked on Haruhi, noting the rare show of concern she was sparing the blond. Finally, her eyes turned upward to meet her club senior's, giving him an apologetic look. Mori nodded once, and she pushed open the door to the clubroom.

Assuming not incorrectly that their president was returning, the Black Magic Club turned anxiously when they heard the door open, eager to hear all about what had happened when Nekozawa left. But they had not expected him to return supported by two Host Club members.

Taro jumped to his feet in surprise, and Tokumi quickly began dimming the lights, recognizing the cause of Nekozawa's state. A chair was gestured to, and Mori and Haruhi entered, looking supremely out of place.

"Oh my gosh!" Shinobu exclaimed upon sight of her unconscious president, "I didn't know he was blond!"

Recognizing Mori, Reiko's eyes widened in surprise, and her gaze darted around the doorway, as if looking for someone. When it was apparent that no one else had followed them from the Third Music Room, she turned away, pointedly ignoring the tallest Host Club member. It couldn't be told whether he noticed her or not.

As Nekozawa was set carefully into an armchair, he began to come around. A pained sound escaped him through gritted teeth, and he covered his eyes with his arm.

"Please close the door," he rasped, more a command than a request.

As Mori was closest to the exit, he turned first, recognizing that he was no longer needed. He started towards the bright beam of light pouring through the crack between the door and its frame, but stopped briefly in the doorway, turning wordlessly to Haruhi. She immediately seemed able to read his expression.

"Ah- I'll be right behind you. Thank you for your help."

He nodded, and closed the door softly behind him, leaving the room in an almost perfect darkness, lit by only a few remaining candles. When he was gone, Reiko noticeably relaxed. Nekozawa sat forward, hiding his face in his hands, in either pain or humiliation. His fair hair poured over his fingers, glowing almost ethereally in the room's soft illumination, in stark contrast to the dark atmosphere, but he didn't seem to notice.

"What the hell were you doing? Running laps?" Tokumi demanded, producing a glass of water and setting it on an end table.

"Don't antagonize him!" Taro snapped, fishing around in a dark cupboard. "I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose. Where did we put the aspirin?"

"By the sink," Tokumi replied, looking back and forth between Nekozawa and Haruhi, the latter of whom was looking a little awkward, as though she felt like she should be doing something, but she didn't know what. Shinobu was staring at their president in awe while Taro was attempting to find the small medicine bottle on a dark countertop, and Jun sat by a candle, quietly observing, a devilish smile stretched across his lips.

"I can't wait to hear this," he grinned. "This is gonna be great."

Haruhi felt mildly compelled to stay, but knew that there was nothing more she could do. Nekozawa seemed fine, anyhow, and she had her own club to return to. So, stepping over to the coffee table, she set his wig down on it.

"You dropped this," she said, straightening. Nekozawa did not look up at her.

"Um…" Tokumi mumbled abashedly, "…Thanks for looking out for him…"

"Well, I wasn't going to just leave him there," she replied simply. The looks on the other's faces, though, only spelled out what she regrettably already knew- anyone else may very well have just left him there.

"I have to get back to my club," she began, sighing. "I hope you feel better soon. I'll see you later, Nekozawa-Senpai."

As she turned to leave, though, she felt something catch her arm in a tight hold. A glance back revealed Nekozawa's pale fingers wrapped around her wrist in a firm grip. Her eyes traveled down his outstretched arm to meet his, where he had finally turned to look at her through a curtain of golden hair, his head still lowered. He was clearly burning with humiliation.

"I'm… sorry…" he muttered, barely audible, his reddened cheeks even brighter in the dim candlelight. "You shouldn't have…"

"But I did." She interrupted cleanly. "And I'm not sorry. So don't dwell on it."

Nekozawa wanted to tell her how grateful he was to know her, how she was truly a rare creature, but couldn't seem to make the words reach his mouth. He smiled instead, and she smiled in return, which was good enough for him.

Loosening his grip, he slid his fingers down her hand, pausing slightly at her fingertips as if reluctant to break contact, and finally withdrew. Haruhi made a polite bow, and slipped out the door, leaving the Black Magic Club alone.

"A thousand curses on anyone who saw me like that," Nekozawa hissed malevolently once she was out of earshot. "And a thousand more if they try to make gossip."

"So I gotta ask," Jun began, grinning unsympathetically. "Did you get to say a single word to Haruhi, or did you just haul off and faint first? Because, I have this picture in my head of you in the middle of their club room, and suddenly you get nervous and just pass out. It's as sad as it is hilarious."

An aspirin bottle then whizzed across the room and smacked Jun square in the temple with surprising accuracy.

Outside, Mori was waiting for Haruhi as she emerged from the dark room. She gave him an awkward smile when she noticed him.

"I haven't even picked up the tea canisters they sent me out for yet," she sighed. "He was outside the club when I left the room, and when he fainted, I couldn't just leave him there."

"Ah," was Mori's simple reply.

"Thank you again for your help, Mori-Senpai. I know he's… strange… but there's no reason not to show him the same respect as anyone else."

Mori gave her a small smile in response.

* * *

The Host Club had gotten busy while the two were out, and the other club members were so grateful for their return- tea canisters in hand- that they didn't even bother to ask what had taken so long or why the job required Mori and Haruhi both. The two dutifully returned to their waiting customers, and Haruhi was glad to have been able to bypass the inquisition. Only Mori had seen Nekozawa outside, and she knew Mori wouldn't tell anyone.

It turned her stomach a little to be keeping a secret (more or less- she would tell them the truth if they asked), but Haruhi had a sneaking suspicion that no one in the Host Club- with the possible exception of Mori and Hunny- would understand why she was friends with Nekozawa, and she really didn't want to have to explain herself. There was nothing wrong with her having friends outside of club, but she just didn't think most of them would comprehend that. The twins would probably become jealous, Tamaki would needlessly fear for her safety, and Kyouya, well… he would probably calculate what her relationship to the Black Magic Club would do to her reputation and how the Host Club would suffer as a result, continuing on to explain how that would affect the progress of her debt repayment.

In fact, she was almost expecting that particular discussion any time now. Kyouya had made it pretty clear, in his indirect way, that he knew she was somehow involved with Nekozawa. He had been right about the rising number of visits from Black Magic Club affiliates, and most of the time, they'd arrived to see her. It was only a matter of time until either Kyouya divulged this information to the others, or they noticed for themselves. Haruhi began to consider telling them first, before they found out any other way. The thought made her grimace.

_I guess it'll be like pulling off a band-aid,_ she considered. _It'll hurt for a minute but then it will start to get better. _She began to think of ways to bring the subject up, but everything she thought of only made her look more suspicious. She could visualize the looks on their faces reading "why are you telling us _now?_" As a result, the best she could think to do was to wait until it was mentioned, and elaborate then.

She just hoped they wouldn't freak out too much.

* * *

The next Host Club meeting marked yet another curious appearance of Nekozawa, but the encounter was decidedly more pleasant than usual, as it was not _Umehito_ Nekozawa who graced them with his presence, but in fact his younger sister, Kirimi. Tamaki had been entertaining some guests when, to his surprise, a small, blonde blur suddenly launched herself into his arms with a delighted squeal.

"Fake Oniichama!" She announced excitedly, latching on to Tamaki in an affectionate hug.

"Kirimi-Chan!" He responded in equal parts shock and joy. He returned her hug and lifted her into the air playfully, to her jubilant laughter. "What a surprise! But it breaks my heart when you call me 'Fake', can't you call me 'Nii-san?'" he requested with a hurt look, but Kirimi was not impressed.

"But you aren't my REAL Oniichama. You're the fake one!"

Tamaki pouted visibly, genuinely affected by her harsh words.

"Hey, what's Sashimi doing here?" Hikaru asked, gliding over. "She knows where her brother's club is. Did she get lost or what?"

Kirimi's face immediately took on a look of horror. "It's DARK in there!" She explained.

"Yeah!" Tamaki agreed, wearing the same terrified expression and hugging the child closer. "It's scary, too!"

"Okay, whatever," Hikaru replied, backing himself out of further questioning with a defeated look. Kaoru snickered.

At this point the rest of the club had taken notice of their small guest, plus a few female classmates who wandered over, entertained by the adorably tiny blonde girl.

"Oh, my!" One girl beamed, "Is she your sister, Tamaki-Senpai?"

"She looks just like you!" Another added, folding her hands across her chest. But Kirimi answered for him, before Tamaki could open his mouth, by shaking her head vigorously.

"No way! He's not as cool as _my_ brother!"

The girls all giggled and cooed at the cute answer, and the twins burst into fits of laughter, knowing by the aghast look on his face how Tamaki must be feeling to be told that Umehito Nekozawa was cooler than him.

"Okay," Kaoru laughed, wiping away a tear of mirth, "She's cool. She can stay."

"Kirimi-Chan," Haruhi drew the child's attention in her ever-rational tone, "does your brother know you're here? Have you gone to see him yet?"

Kirimi's eyes filled with tears and she whined pitifully, and Haruhi assumed the child had attempted to visit her brother, but couldn't get past the front door.

"Um… sorry…" Was all Haruhi could think to say to pacify Kirimi's weeping.

"The Young Master knows his sister is here, and will be out presently," replied a vaguely familiar voice from the doorway as the Nekozawa family maid Kuretake entered (and suddenly the room felt just a little bit colder somehow). "He chose to let her finish her business in private, rather than disturb your club activities."

"I think our activities have been disturbed already," Haruhi sighed as Kyouya stepped forward at the mention of the word 'business'.

"Is there something we can help you with?" He asked, a little too slyly, but Kuretake gestured to Kirimi.

"The Young Miss insists on explaining herself," she answered simply. Kyouya turned to the child with his best smile.

"What can we do for you, Miss?" He asked pleasantly, in fact, too pleasantly as the rest of his club quickly read the message indentured behind his eyes; that being, if he could avoid dealing with children, by God, he would.

Unfortunately, it seemed Kirimi could read it too, as she turned her face into Tamaki's chest. "Megane is scary..."

Kyouya stiffened and the twins didn't even bother trying to contain their rancorous laughter at Kirimi's continued bluntness. Even Tamaki stifled a snicker behind his hand. Kyouya pursed his lips, but bravely held his smile.

"Well then, perhaps you'd like to talk to your _fake_ nii-san instead," he offered, making sure to emphasize the word 'fake' for Tamaki's sake. In the back of his mind, he wondered if he was really all that frightening.

Tamaki's look of injury and despair at his best friend's implied harshness quickly melted as Kirimi hopped down from his lap to turn and face him, and attempted an exaggerated lady-like curtsey. The club's guests gushed over how absolutely darling she was as she proceeded to pull an envelope out of a pocket on her dress, and presented it to him.

"Fake Oniichama, will you come to my birthday party?" She asked with a very sweet smile, her blue eyes shining. Tamaki turned bright red as he found himself overwhelmed by how cute she was, and tears brimmed in his eyes. He swept her into a tight hug, exclaiming jubilantly, "I'm so touched that you would invite me, Kirimi-Chan! Of course I'll come!"

At that moment, the same thought passed through the minds of the rest of his club:

_Is he really getting this emotional over a three year old's birthday?_

Kirimi cheered and giggled at his acceptance of her invitation, as well as how he spun her around, and the club guests gushed again. Kyouya adjusted his spectacles.

"Then if your business is quite complete," he stated plainly, his patience now quite thin (due in part to his irritation at being insulted by a three year old in front of a room full of clients), "we _are_ running a service here."

"Of course," Kuretake bowed, and held a hand out to Kirimi. "Come, Young Miss, lets go see your brother now. Have you delivered both invitations?"

"Both?" Tamaki asked, and found the sentiment repeated by several others.

"Oh I almost forgot!" Kirimi announced, pulling another invitation from her pocket. She then hurried over to the gathered group of hosts. No one expected she would stop in front of Haruhi Fujioka- least of all, Haruhi herself.

Kirimi's awkward curtsey was much for hurried than it was for Tamaki, like she nearly forgot to do it before presenting her envelope to the club's only hostess.

"Will you come too, Nerd?" She asked, very sweetly and innocently. Haruhi facefaulted. The twins snickered, Tamaki looked horrified on her behalf, and Kyouya felt strangely justified.

"Me?" Haruhi was clearly puzzled, taking the invitation as if she had no idea what it was. "Why me?"

Kirimi beamed. "Because you read to me!" She replied simply, and flounced back over to her supervisor in her carefree, childish way. Haruhi was dumbfounded.

"Just for that?"

"We look forward to seeing you both," Kuretake smiled, and lead her charge out of the room as Kirimi waved goodbye.

Haruhi was at a loss. Slowly, her eyes traveled down to the slightly rough-cornered envelope in her hands. 'Nerd' was written on the front in elegant calligraphy. She sighed dismally.

"Isn't this wonderful, Haruhi?" Tamaki exclaimed excitedly, holding his invitation out beside hers. "We were both invited! Now neither of us will be lonely!"

"But I'm not really interested in a kid's birthday party. What's so fun about hanging out with a bunch of children?" She wondered, frowning. Glancing back up to her club mates though, she saw that they were giving her strange looks, and wondered if she had somehow offended them.

"I... I mean," she began attempting to backtrack, "I don't really mind kids, but… do you really want to play those old party games?"

Tamaki's interest was instantly piqued. "Party games? Like what?"

"I think you're getting confused, Haruhi," Kyouya scoffed smugly. "You seem to be mixing up commoner birthday parties with those of the upper class."

"Is there a difference?" Tamaki was practically bouncing with curiosity. "What's the difference? What party games?"

"The fact is," Kaoru explained with a shrug, "any birthday- even a child's birthday- is just another excuse to have a huge party. Parents will invite all their friends over to celebrate, and _maybe_ there will be some kids there, too."

"Parents will say it's to get their kids acquainted with high society and introduce them to people who might be their bosses when they get older," Hikaru continued, "but I think it's mostly just an excuse to stay socially relevant. To be honest, I think commoner parties sound more fun."

"You aren't really selling this for me," Haruhi confessed, looking at the invitation dejectedly. "I think I'll opt out."

"You mustn't!" Tamaki cried, looking far too upset. "Getting an invitation to a high class party like this is such a great opportunity for you! I bet you'll be the first commoner they ever had as a guest!"

"Once again, not really selling this for me."

"Haru-Chan…" this time it was Hunny's face that appeared before her, and to her surprise, he was pouting. Haruhi rolled her eyes with a sigh of "You too, Senpai?..."

"If you don't go…" he wept, "don't you think you'd make Kirimi sad?..."

Haruhi felt a slight pang in her chest. _Would_ she let down Kirimi?...

"I seriously doubt she'd even notice if I was there or not," she replied, though she seemed a bit skeptical.

"But she went to the trouble of inviting you!" Tamaki pressed the argument, holding up Haruhi's hands dramatically, the envelope still clutched in her fingers. "She made this invitation especially for you!"

"But- I…" Haruhi looked hopelessly around the room, but no one, not the club's intrigued guests, not her own friends, seemed to be sympathetic to her severe disinterest. In fact, it was starting to look more likely that if she declined again, Tamaki would cry, and in the end somebody would probably just kidnap her the night of the party anyhow and then she wouldn't have the luxury of being at least moderately prepared. So, in her desperation, she uttered the one phrase she never in her life thought she would ever find herself saying, and would have given the world to take back:

"…But I don't have anything to wear!"

Tamaki and the twins looked so happy, they could just die. Haruhi could have died too, but for a different reason.

"Leave that to us!" the twins declared. "We have just the thing!"

With no warning, each of them grabbed one of Haruhi's wrists and pulled her over to the closed doors of the practice room as Kyouya politely dismissed all their guests, explaining that there was now need for a club meeting. When the room had cleared of all but the Host Club, the Hitachiins threw open the double doors.

There, a beautifully crafted elegant white satin dress hanging off a slender dressing dummy shimmered before her.

"Oh God," she lamented, horrified. "I had forgotten all about that thing."

"I knew we'd get a chance to put this on you!" Hikaru grinned ruthlessly. "That's why we kept it in there!"

"You'll look so pretty, Haru-Chan!" Hunny announced cheerfully as Tamaki blushed, picturing how great she was going to look in it.

"Now," The twins began in unison, their identical eyes glinting with evil, "let's try it on to make sure it fits!"

Suddenly, a terrible chill shot down Tamaki's spine, and he wrapped his arms around his freezing shoulders.

"Wait!" he called, his eyes wide with fear. "We forgot one thing!"

"Ah," Kyouya smirked coldly, "I was wondering when this would occur to you."

The twins looked at him quizzically, and the Host Club King shivered.

"I just remembered… won't Kirimi's _brother_ be there?"

Hikaru and Kaoru paled. Haruhi felt a strange combination of terror and relief that could not be explained.

"Well, crap!" Hikaru cursed. "Nekozawa doesn't know that Haruhi's a girl, so we can't even put her in a dress!"

"That's awful!" Tamaki declared, scandalized. "What are we going to do?"

"Actually," Kyouya smiled, "Nekozawa _does_ know."

There was a moment of stunned silence as six sets of eyes stared, dumbfounded, at the vice president. Kyouya's smile remained planted on his face.

Slowly, all eyes turned to Haruhi. And at once, everybody erupted.

"How could he have found out?"

"Weren't we careful?"

"Our perfect disguise!"

"Has he told anyone?"

"Did someone tell him?"

"When did this happen?"

"It's because you guys are idiots!" Haruhi shouted through the din, silencing them instantly. She sighed again, aggravated. "Don't you guys remember when we went to his family beach house, and my dad repacked all my clothes to be dresses and nightgowns? You weren't very careful about treating me like a girl there, were you?"

There was another profound silence as each of them brought the memory to mind.

"…Yeah, I think I managed to forget he was there," Hikaru admitted.

"We were _trying_ to forget him, remember? It made the trip better," Kaoru reminded him.

"Oh yeah. Well I guess that was the problem."

"But this solves our dilemma, doesn't it?" Tamaki perked again, becoming excited. "If Nekozawa knows, Haruhi can wear a dress to the party!"

"Granted I'm all for that," Kaoru began skeptically, "I feel like that's not our biggest concern."

"But if Nekozawa found out back _then_, and it's not a school-wide fact by now, it must be pretty obvious that he hasn't told anyone!" Tamaki argued. "I bet he's pretty good at keeping secrets, anyhow."

"I dunno," Hikaru considered. "Kyouya, how did you find out he knew, anyhow? And why didn't you tell us _before_?"

"It only recently came to my attention," Kyouya replied. "And Tamaki is right- I highly doubt he's going to tell anyone."

As he spoke, he turned a dark eye towards Haruhi, a wry smirk faint on his lips. Haruhi was unable to decipher it's meaning, but it made her shiver.

"Besides," he added, "I meant this to be a solution. Now you can dress her in whatever you like."

He smiled, and Haruhi knew that for some reason, he was punishing her.

Having had their worries assuaged by Kyouya, the vice president's permission was all the Host Club needed to decide it was safe, and they all grinned again, anxious to dress poor Haruhi up. A heavy hearted groan escaped her as she admitted defeat, and allowed herself to be pushed into the practice room with the white dress.

"If you need help zipping up the back, let us know!" Kaoru called after her with a grin. Just then, Tamaki remembered something.

"Haruhi!" He called through the door, "While you're changing, tell me about the party games!"


	10. Runecasting

LAWL. This party is such a plot device. Also I can't believe I completed eight chapters of a Nekozawa fanfiction without writing in Kirimi. I'm a genius. Or an idiot.

Also I apologize for how late this came out. I'm an employed full time college student with a webcomic, and all of these things take priority.

Thanks a million to my beta Leafygirl.

* * *

To the delight of every Host Club member who actually possessed a Y chromosome (and the regret of the one who did not), Haruhi's dress fit almost perfectly. Only minor adjustments needed to be made- taking in the hem, as the twins had given her too much credit as far as her height was concerned, and, shockingly, letting out the bust, where they had somehow managed to give her too _little_ credit (apparently forgetting that she wore an unflattering sports bra every day at school, and at all club functions). Those aside, the fit was gorgeous, and seeing Haruhi in that beautiful white satin dress was like a dream come true for Tamaki and the twins, especially.

For Haruhi herself, it was nothing short of a nightmare.

She was willing to concede that the gown was indeed lovely- it covered her appropriately and wasn't too flashy or ostentatious- but it wasn't really in her style to wear such an expensive looking thing, and more irritatingly, she couldn't get her club mates to stop fussing over her. It was like they thought it was a miracle to get her to a non-school related party in a dress. Haruhi thought it would be a miracle if they shut up about it.

For the next few days, after club activities had ended and the guests had all left, the unfortunate girl was abducted by her friends and dragged all across town in an effort to complete the ensemble. They took her shopping for shoes, hair clips, jewelry, gloves, anything they thought would look complimentary on her, and while she insisted that she _really_ didn't need all this, and they _really_ didn't have to go to all the trouble, and she _really_ needed to get back home early tonight to study for that test next week, it was no use, as there didn't seem to be any way to talk them down.

After finally managing to at least convince everyone that she just couldn't accept anything so expensive as a gift, the club came to the general consensus that the shoes and gloves would be written off as club related purchases, and the jewelry would be returned or kept by the Host Club members to do with as they wished, so that Haruhi didn't have to feel awkward about owning them. So, with no real choice in the matter and little grounds for further argument, she admitted defeat and just sighed quietly as Kaoru and Hikaru argued with Tamaki over the aesthetic appeal of pearls versus opals, and valiantly attempted to read her book from the back of the store. It was difficult to concentrate, though, when her internal dialogue was being constantly interrupted with somebody shouting about how opals were too bright and would detract from the quality of the dress, or about how pearls weren't bright enough and they weren't even really stones, they were oyster spit. Finally Kyouya decided on diamonds just to shut them up and Haruhi had to stop reading to make them promise there would be as FEW diamonds as humanly possible, because the last thing she needed was to owe more money to the Host Club. She never did want to be one of those girls who would try to out sparkle the stars themselves.

She didn't see Nekozawa at all that week. For one thing, her friends were dragging her around every afternoon, and in her precious time off she was studying so it was simply a matter of time constraints. For another thing, she wasn't even completely sure she wanted to face him, bedraggled and vaguely under slept, all in preparation for his sister's party. But, cementing her desire to not see him was the reoccurring thought that she _did_ want to see him- that he had a calming effect on her, that she could relax in his presence- which of course were thoughts that simply would not do, and so she ignored them as hard as she could, and allowed herself to be run continuously haggard by the others for the entirety of the week.

Unfortunately, the torment she faced every afternoon following club was nothing compared to what she would endure the day of the party.

Despite the fact that Umehito Nekozawa had a rather bizarre reputation around Ouran, his family name was an old one that generally commanded some respect, and he really was descended from Russian royalty on his mother's side. Therefore, it could be generally assumed that being invited to a Nekozawa party would be a formal affair, with an impressive number of big names attending. And, with Tamaki acting as her chaperone, the Host Club was decidedly not shy about bringing out as much of a lady in Haruhi as they could achieve. Although some members were still a little wary about Umehito Nekozawa being in on their club secret- especially since he had apparently known for a while- their desire to beautify Haruhi was much more overwhelming than their caution.

Because Kirimi had a bed time and most of the party's guests wanted to at least greet the birthday girl before she was forced to retire, the event was scheduled to begin in the late afternoon. To that end, the Host Club decided to begin Haruhi's glorious transformation early in the morning.

They of course failed to mention this to Haruhi. Therefore it came as a complete surprise when there was a knock at the door at the Fujioka residence at six o'clock in the morning on a weekend, and a gruff and irritated Ryoji damn near slammed the door in their sickeningly cheerful faces. In fact, the only reason he allowed them in was because Tamaki was not there. The Host King had his own preparations to take care of, and all though he wanted to be there to witness the transformation, the twins were able to convince him it would be better if he waited for the "finished product".

And so, it was with no small amount of confused frustration that Haruhi opened her bleary eyes to the bright, smiling faces of Hikaru and Kaoru standing over her. In her room. At six A.M. On a Sunday.

Haruhi pulled the covers over her head.

"Wakey wakey. Haruhi!" The twins exclaimed in unison, smiling far too broadly for her mood.

"Go away," Came the muffled reply from under the bed sheets.

"It's time to get ready!" Hikaru announced as the twins both began shaking the mattress to rouse her. He then added, "Oh my God, is this what you sleep on? This mattress is terrible!"

"I can feel the springs!" Kaoru concurred, pushing down on the furniture. Finally, Haruhi was irritated into waking, and threw the blankets off her head, sitting up violently.

"Okay, okay!" She agreed. "Just leave my room so I can get dressed!"

This was good enough for them, and they finally left. Haruhi dressed quickly in a very foul mood. They sure as Hell didn't have any manners.

When she opened the door, to her mild surprise she found that Hunny, Mori, and Kyouya were also waiting for her, apparently having had no other plans for the day. But on the other hand, they did bring breakfast for her, so she was much quicker to forgive them, and soon her bad mood melted away.

However, she wasn't in a _good_ mood, either. Because after breakfast and a quick shower, her torture began.

The hair salon was all right. She got a crick in her neck from leaning back over the sink but as the stylist cleaned her hair it felt sort of nice, like a scalp massage. It only got a little irritating after it had been blown dry and the stylist huffed and clicked her tongue, muttering about how Haruhi's hair was just so short and she didn't know what to do with it. But finally, with the help of more gel and product than she probably had hair, it was upswept against the back of her head in an adorable twist and wound together with a thin white ribbon, held in place with a dozen pins and four very pretty white barrettes clipped above her temples. When it was finished, her friends oohed and aahed, pleased with the result. Hunny told her that she looked like a princess, and Haruhi wished she could turn her head without fear of popping a pin our or tearing out her hair.

The manicure was so boring, she could have fallen asleep. Soaking her fingers in lukewarm water for ten minutes and being sawed at with a nail file was not Haruhi's idea of a great afternoon. So that she wouldn't feel too awkward, Hunny decided to get one too, and chatted at her pleasantly about how they can _both_ have pretty hands; Haruhi still wished she'd brought a book. In the end, both of them ended up wearing the same clear nail polish, which made Hunny giggle. Haruhi was mildly amused.

After that it was noon, and they decided to stop for lunch at a place of Kyouya's choosing. They managed to reserve the entire outdoor patio with a majestic scenic view over a lake, which of course Haruhi thought was ridiculously excessive, but the service was impeccable and the sandwich she ordered was heavenly so she didn't complain.

Soon the twins were engaged in hushed conversation, causing Haruhi to pray she wasn't somehow involved in whatever conspiracy they were planning- and Hunny was busy trying to decide what to order for dessert, the girl turned to Kyouya.

"Kyouya-Senpai," she began, catching his attention, "just how long have you known that Nekozawa-Senpai knew I was a girl?..."

"Hmmm," he replied thoughtfully with his chin in his hand, but she could see his concealed smile. "Longer than you've known, I assume."

"Oh?" She said with only some surprise. After all, she only found out a week ago. "But you told the twins that it 'recently came to your attention'."

"That was half true," he responded smoothly, and took a sip of his tea before continuing. "Nekozawa-Senpai came to me in private the next morning after he found out our secret and offered a trade. He wouldn't reveal your gender if we wouldn't reveal that he wasn't Japanese. Of course, I had no intention of telling anyone his origin as it did not interest me, so the bargain was in my favor and I accepted. What 'recently came to my attention'…" Kyouya paused with an almost imperceptible smirk as he looked at her over his glasses, "…is that he _cared_ you were a girl."

Haruhi's face coloured slightly and she took an awkward sip of her tea.

"Ah." He smiled slyly. "But you knew that, too, didn't you?"

She turned swiftly to face him, shocked, her cheeks even redder than before. Haruhi tried to say something in her defense, but only a sort of strangled noise came out.

"I wonder…" Kyouya continued, ignoring and perhaps even enjoying her humiliation, "exactly how well _do_ you know...?"

Haruhi turned wordlessly to her empty plate, feeling embarrassed and exposed. She had suspected that Kyouya knew that she and Nekozawa were friends, but how much more did he know? Did he know about that night, in the Black Magic clubroom? How would he? He seemed to imply that he was on to her, but was he just trying to get her to give something away? Was he bluffing?

Haruhi decided she liked it so much better when she thought Kyouya knew that she and Nekozawa were friends. She didn't want him to think that they were lovers!

"Haruhi, why is your face so red? Did you eat something spicy?" Kaoru asked suddenly, surprising her out of her thoughts.

"Or did Kyouya say something lewd to you?" Hikaru added jokingly.

"No, I just…" Haruhi put her hand to her forehead, feeling overwhelmed. "There's just a lot happening today."

"Haru-Chan is feeling tired because we woke her up!" Hunny offered. "Try some cake, Haru-Chan! You'll feel better!"

"I think I'd like to go home," she sighed.

* * *

Kyouya's eerily accurate musings on the depth of Haruhi and Nekozawa's relationship unsettled Haruhi, and she was distant and distracted for a while afterwards. She couldn't stop thinking that she wanted to correct Kyouya, to explain that he had had it all wrong and that she and Nekozawa were just friends, but at the same time, Kyouya wasn't entirely wrong either. If he suspected- or _knew_- that Nekozawa had kissed her, well, she really couldn't argue that. It also occurred to her that she ought to tell everybody about her acquaintanceship with the gloomy upperclassmen, before they all got the same idea as Kyouya. She decided finally that she would tell Tamaki tonight. If she could convince him that Nekozawa was harmless- said person's presence may even be of help in that regard at the party- then it would probably be easier to convince the others, particularly the twins.

Her silent and contemplative demeanor over the next hour or so worked in her favor, because she was barely aware of having her face worked over at the beauty parlor later on after lunch. She just closed her eyes and let the beautician perform their art, which seemed moderately suspicious to the others, who had been expecting her to protest or complain about having her makeup done. With a shrug, they decided that she was probably just becoming accustomed to the treatment- or finally understood the futility of resisting and accepted her behavior with a small sense of relief.

Except of course for Kyouya, who smiled knowingly behind his glasses.

Following her makeover, there was only one step left to complete Haruhi's look. So, sporting her fresh coat of paint, her wound up hair and neat new nails, the group poured back into the cars and headed towards the Hitachiin's place, where Haruhi's dress was waiting for her, complete with all its recent alterations for a perfect fit.

Hikaru and Kaoru's mother was thrilled to see Haruhi, and more than happy to help the girl into the dress her sons had made for her, though she lamented some during the fitting that they hadn't decided to go with one of her own designs, which not only would have looked "fabulous", but also would have been free advertisement for her clothing label. Haruhi was secretly glad the twins didn't decide on any of their mother's designs, because they were a little too outrageous for her tastes. Of course, she didn't say this out loud.

As she and the Lady Hitachiin smoothed out her dress, Haruhi was lead to a mirror where she could finally get a full look at all the work she'd been going through all morning. There, she observed her changed appearance from top to bottom.

It sort of felt like she was looking at somebody else through that mirror, somebody who looked a little bit like her, but much prettier. It was hard to believe the real Haruhi was under all the glamour. It was a little uncomfortable, but she vowed to put on a brave face. After all, her club mates had gone to a lot of trouble for her to look like a princess, and it was very sweet of them, since in the end, they weren't getting anything out of the ordeal except the chance to see Haruhi in a gown. She knew they would be pleased. That at least made her a little happy. Besides, thinking of how Tamaki was going to react later when he met her at the party was a sort of amusing thought as well, and she suppressed a grin.

As the lady Hitachiin lead her back out to where the others were waiting, Haruhi wondered a little what Nekozawa would think, too.

After getting past the oohs and ahhs and other looks of astonishment from her friends, it was decided at last that Haruhi's look was complete. Finally, it was time to go to the party. Haruhi groaned inwardly. It already felt like a day's worth of activity, and that was just the preparation.

"I feel a little bit ridiculous," she muttered as the others nodded their approval. "Isn't this just a kid's birthday party? Why am I wearing all this make-up? Its like I'm going to a _wedding_ or something."

"As was mentioned previously," Kyouya began in response, "Child or adult, a birthday is an occasion worthy of celebration, and the upper class prefers to celebrate in style. A certain standard is more or less expected, and all guests are measured by it."

"Yeah, if you showed up in what you were wearing today, they might not even let you in as a _servant_," Hikaru added. "You probably didn't do any less to prepare than anyone else."

"Except it probably took her longer," Kaoru thought, "because she's never had a manicure or a bunch of that stuff before, so there was more to do."

"It pains me to say that I have no choice but to trust you on this," Haruhi sighed. "But if I'm the only one who's overdressed, I'm leaving."

Just then, she remembered something, and cursed under her breath.

"I hate to be a bother," she began, "but can we stop at my place again? I forgot Kirimi's birthday gift."

"Ooh! What did you get her?" Hunny excitedly asked.

"Just a manga," she replied with a shrug. "I didn't know what she already had, though, so I sat in the bookstore for an hour trying to remember which ones I had read to her. In the end I ended up with… I don't know, something with a talking cat."

"That sounds about her style!" Hikaru laughed. "Sure, we can swing by your house. You should probably drop off the clothes you were wearing around today anyhow."

Madame Hitachiin saw them to the door and the crew departed. They made a stop back at Haruhi's place, and were delayed by Ranka's delighted squeals and violently affectionate hugs for joy of seeing his tomboyish daughter in a gorgeous dress. He immediately forgave her club mates for waking them both up so early in the morning, agreeing that the effort was very much worth it. Haruhi was finally able to extricate herself from her father to duck into her room and grab Kirimi's gift, and one other thing, which was shoved into a small handbag with her keys and wallet. With one last final look around to see if she missed anything, she emerged.

"All right, I think its time," Kyouya began. He took his cell phone out of his pocket. "Everyone, you may turn your phones on."

Haruhi watched with some confusion then as all of her club mates proceeded to take out their cells and switch them on, where all of them immediately began beeping "missed call" and "new voice mail".

Every single call on every boy's phone was from Tamaki, frantically demanding updates on Haruhi's progress. Her face fell.

"We told him he can't call you because he'll be interrupting," Hikaru began as Haruhi checked her own phone, as she hadn't turned it off at all. "But we knew he'd be bugging us all day so we turned our phones off."

"I guess we'd better tell him she's ready," Kaoru sighed, scrolling down to 'Tono' on his contact list."

"There's no need!" replied Hunny excitedly from the window. "His car is pulling up!"

The Host Club scrambled to the tiny windows facing the street where they saw that Tamaki's limousine was, in fact, stopping just outside the Fujioka residence, to Haruhi's baffled but no longer surprised neighbors' wide-eyed stares. Hikaru and Kaoru raced outside to shout at him from the balcony.

"You're too impatient, Tono!"

"I've been ready for hours!" Tamaki shouted back as he emerged from the vehicle. "You all took too long on purpose so that you could spend more time with Haruhi!"

Tamaki was wearing a handsome dark purple suit that seemed almost black in the shadows, but was just bright enough to bring out his eyes magnificently. He practically dazzled in the sunlight, and Haruhi's female neighbors swooned.

Haruhi groaned. "I've changed my mind. I'm backing out."

"Oh no you don't!" the twins insisted, ducking inside to grab her arms. Haruhi struggled, beginning to feel anxiously she wasn't in control of her own life.

"Let me go! I can change my mind if I want to!"

"Not today!" They grinned, and pulled her out onto the balcony.

Her neighbors gasped. Tamaki looked astounded. Haruhi turned red from embarrassment.

"Isn't she pretty?" Hunny leaned over the railing and shouted down to Tamaki. "Haruhi looks like a princess! Come on, Haruhi!" He took her hand and began pulling her down the stairs.

"Have fun today, Sweetie!" Ryoji called after her from the doorway, smiling broadly. "Daddy loves you!"

"Haruhi!" Her landlady looked shocked. "You're so lovely! Are you going to a prom?"

"Nope! A birthday party!" Hunny replied for her. Haruhi covered her face with her hands.

"I wish I could die."

At the landing, Haruhi tromped gracelessly over to Tamaki, hoping to get in the car as fast as possible and escape all the prying eyes. Tamaki stared wordlessly at her, thunderstruck. His face was bright red.

"Well," she huffed, "let's go if we're going to."

He continued to stare. Haruhi became impatient.

"Tono, if you're going to get a nosebleed, you'd better not ruin her dress," Hikaru warned, which seemed to snap Tamaki out of his reverie enough for him to yell back.

"I'm not going to ruin the dress!"

"Let's please get in the car, Senpai," she muttered. "Everyone is staring."

In a flash, she found herself wrapped in his arms, his slender fingers gently lifting her chin to meet his radiant gaze.

"Let them stare," he whispered seductively.

A flower pot connected with his skull, and Tamaki crashed to the ground in a shower of dirt and a yelp of pain. Haruhi looked up at the landing, but both of the twins were acting so innocent it was hard to tell which one was actually guilty. But it was one of them.

Tamaki stood up angrily, brushing dirt out of his blond hair, and was about to retaliate against the twins when Kyouya put a hand on his shoulder.

"You'll be late, Tamaki," he advised with a cool smile.

"Ah! Of course! Come, my lady!" He stretched out his hand to Haruhi, who decided to humor him and took it. He pulled her over to the car with a dramatic swirl, and without a word, she climbed in, embarrassed. He waved at their friends before joining her, and the car pulled out.

"Well," Kaoru began when the car turned a corner out of sight, "I guess we'd better get ready, too."

The two brothers smiled mischievously at one another.


	11. Dice Throwing

Sorry it took me like six months to get the next chapter out. I had a lot of school. A LOT. Thanks again to Leafygirl, who beta'd for me again even when she, too, thought I'd abandoned it! (I'll try to do better next time.)

* * *

Haruhi had tried her best on the ride to the party not to expect anything, so that she wouldn't be so surprised when her expectations weren't met. Despite her efforts, though, she couldn't help but to imagine the Nekozawa estate as a dark, forbidding mansion on a hilltop, with bats circling the looming black-windowed towers and a weed-grown cemetery in the back, surrounded by a creaky wrought-iron fence. It was a ridiculously clichéd example of a Halloween haunted house and she tried to push it out of her mind, because while she knew it was probably Umehito Nekozawa's dream house, Kirimi Nekozawa and the rest if the family likely wouldn't stand for it. After all, while generations of the Nekozawas may have worshipped cats, Umehito was the only one to her knowledge that also worshipped darkness in the last one thousand years. The house was probably not much different than any of the other mansions she'd seen.

Then again, she'd seen the basement of the Nekozawa beach house… but she couldn't be sure their host hadn't planted the skeletons and guillotines there for atmosphere, like he'd done around the cave on the beach.

But then, in that case, why plant them in the basement...?

With these thoughts troubling her, Haruhi barely registered the excited rambling of Tamaki beside her. He must have had the same expectations as her, because he was behaving somewhat like a kid about to go trick-or-treating- that being, with a nervous mixture of excitement and fear.

_It's going to be perfectly normal_, she was forced to remind herself. _It's going to be like Tamaki's house, or the twins'. Excessively large, but normal._

But she was having such a hard time convincing herself, that when Tamaki announced that they were pulling up the driveway, Haruhi actually closed her eyes, and didn't open them until the vehicle pulled to a stop. After a moment, she slowly opened them and turned to Tamaki first, to see the reaction on his face.

His eyes were wide with shock, and his mouth had fallen open. Haruhi cringed, and turned her head towards the estate. What she saw made her gasp.

Haruhi somehow hadn't anticipated a strange mixture of what she had hoped for, and what she had tried not to expect. The house was a dark, Romanesque Victorian style, complete with turrets and towers, parapets and arches. It almost looked like it had been _designed_ to be creepy, but to its credit, there was no overgrown cemetery in the back, and the fences were made of stone. It had a garden and looked moderately well kept and neat.

Well kept and neat, but spooky.

Tamaki was still staring at it, as if he had yet to make a decision as to whether he was frightened or not. Finally, he turned to Haruhi with teary eyes.

"…I'm not certain I want to go in there!" he confessed. "It looks haunted!"

"I have no idea what I was expecting," she sighed in response, "but I'm sure it's not haunted. We may as well go in."

With some apprehension on both their parts, the two exited the car and made their way- admittedly rather slowly- up the stairs to the main entrance, carrying the gifts they'd brought for Kirimi. Tamaki, in a sudden surge of panic, turned back to the car but the driver had already pulled away, abandoning them. He swallowed his breath and put on a brave face.

"Senpai," Haruhi frowned, "At least try not to look like you're going to throw up."

"T-that won't happen!" he insisted as the front door opened. The two turned towards it, a little surprised, as Kadomatsu, one of the Nekozawa's family servants, appeared, looking down at that with no discernable expression.

"Welcome. The Young Miss is expecting you," he greeted them in a low voice, and gestured for them to step inside. Haruhi entered first, and Tamaki followed, shivering.

When they entered the ballroom, Haruhi was relieved to discover that she wasn't as overdressed as she'd feared. The other ladies in attendance were dressed just as finely, and the gentlemen were in suits. In the back of the room, a table laden with gifts was set up, and on a buffet table sat a very large, atrociously pink cake. Just the same, Haruhi felt supremely out of place.

A squeal of joy announced that Kirimi had noticed their arrival, and she raced across the room in her adorable yellow party dress to greet Tamaki, who immediately put down her gift in favor of lifting her up and giving her a hug.

"Kirimi-Chan!" he announced affectionately with a warm smile.

"You came, you came!" she exclaimed in delight. "And the nerd came, too!"

"Um… Happy birthday, Kirimi," Haruhi attempted to smile, though she was beginning to dislike her nickname. She stopped when she noticed Kirimi staring at her through her large, curious blue eyes.

"Hey Nerd," the girl inquired, "Are you a _crossdresser_?"

Tamaki and Haruhi froze at the question, aghast. Somehow, it hadn't occurred to _any_ of them that _Kirimi_ would be the first to notice that- as well as the last to know _why_- Haruhi, who wore a boy's uniform at the school, arrived at her party in a dress. As Haruhi looked around the room, she noticed that Kirimi's maid, Kuretake, was giving her a strange look as well. Tamaki began to stammer, and Haruhi to seethe.

"_Senpai_," she said in a voice so cold his blood froze to hear it, "Since you were so determined that I should wear a dress, why don't you go ahead and explain why I'm wearing it."

"Uh…" Tamaki sputtered, at a loss. They'd been so apprehensive that Nekozawa had found out Haruhi's secret, but it never worried them that his sister might know it! "You see…. That is…."

Kirimi laughed, interrupting his sputtering. "Nerd wears boy clothes, _and_ girl clothes! You're a crossdresser! Crossdresser! Crossdresser!"

"Hey, lets not go announcing that so loudly," Tamaki pleaded a little pathetically as Haruhi's face fell into her hands.

"You're on your own, Senpai. I'm calling a cab." Haruhi mumbled.

"_Please don't leave me_!" he whimpered back.

"Ah, Young Miss, your mother is looking for you," Kuretake called to Kirimi as she approached. "Shall I put your gifts on the table?"

"Presents!" Kirimi giggled, quickly forgetting Haruhi's dress. Her eyes sparkled with interest as Haruhi handed her the gift she'd forgotten she was holding.

"It's a manga!" the young girl gasped in excitement, even though she hadn't torn the paper off yet, recognizing it by its shape and weight alone. "Thank you, Nerd!"

"Uh… you're welcome", Haruhi awkwardly replied. Kuretake took Tamaki's gift and smiled at them both.

"Thank you both for coming. The Young Miss was very excited to invite you." She smiled congenially at them. Then, leaning forward, she added in a whisper "and I won't tell anyone your secret!"

She winked conspiratorially at them as Haruhi's face went flat and Tamaki uncomfortably thanked her, and the maid turned to follow the birthday girl.

"I… I wonder…" Tamaki stammered, baffled, "…what gender she thinks you actually are?"

Haruhi groaned. Suddenly, both of their attentions were called to the other side of the room when a high-pitched voice cried out in glee, "_Oniichama!_"

"Kirimi-Chan!" a familiar voice replied with an unfamiliar amount of honest joy, and Kirimi was picked up again, her small body and a gathering crowd obscuring the face of her brother.

"…She's not afraid of him," Tamaki observed with puzzled interest. "That means…"

"…He must not be wearing the wig," Haruhi finished in astonished agreement, craning her neck over the crowd to catch a glimpse. A moment later, Umehito Nekozawa broke through and set his sister down, revealing himself entirely.

They'd been right- he wasn't wearing his wig or cape. In fact, in his perfectly clean, perfectly _white_ suit, his platinum blond hair falling neatly around his face, and his cordial smile, he was almost entirely unrecognizable. For a moment, Haruhi and Tamaki stared at him, trying to find a trace of something familiar, wondering if maybe Kirimi had an unmentioned brother because this couldn't _possibly_ be the Nekozawa they knew. Even though they'd both seen him without his disguise before, and even with the people around him saying "It's good to see you again, Umehito! You've gotten so tall, Umehito!", his schoolmates had never before seen him without even a hint of the darkness they associated him with. In a way, it was strangely unsettling.

But as the two of them were wondering if maybe they'd stepped through some sort of dimensional gate, Nekozawa caught sight of Tamaki, and gave himself away. A shadow seemed to fall over his eyes, and his lips curled into s sinister smile as he approached the underclassman, who, with a shiver of fear, was no longer doubting Nekozawa's identity.

"Suoh-Kun!" Nekozawa almost seemed to purr, smirking wickedly as he draped an arm amicably across Tamaki's shoulders. Tamaki immediately stiffened, choking on his own fear.

"So I've finally got you at my house, have I?" Nekozawa began with an ominous grin. "I'll have to show you around later! We'll start the tour at the attic, and _end_ in the _basement_!"

He laughed, and Tamaki scrambled out of his senior's deceptively dangerous hold. "N-no thank you," Tamaki stammered, "I'll just stay here with the party…"

"A pity! Well, I'll just have to try and catch you _alone_ later," Nekozawa replied, seeming to take great joy in their exchange. As if for protection, Tamaki moved to hide behind Haruhi with a whimper, and it was then that Nekozawa noticed her.

Haruhi noticed that when Nekozawa first glanced at her, his eyes didn't register a hint of recognition. She might have been annoyed if it weren't for the double take he did immediately afterward, looking supremely astonished.

"…Haruhi?" Nekozawa asked, the surprise clear in his voice.

"Hello, Senpai," Haruhi replied detachedly, with just a hint of a smile. "You look good. I like your suit."

Nekozawa couldn't seem to form any words in reply. He covered his face with one of his hands, as if to hide the fact that he was turning bright red.

Haruhi was in his house, and in a dress. A white dress. He'd never realized until that very moment how badly he'd wanted to see her in a white dress. And though he'd entertained the thought, he never imagined he would actually see her in his house.

She was beautiful. She was glowing. Nekozawa's heart was beating so fast it should have been audible.

"I heard you were coming." He blushed awkwardly, "but I didn't know… uh…"

"-I'd be in a dress?" she offered, and pointed her thumb at Tamaki behind her. "It was his idea. I'd have been fine in pants."

Nekozawa wanted secretly to thank Tamaki, but decided against it.

Tamaki, in a rare moment, was not smiling. "You don't seem to have any questions," he noted with some suspicion, staring almost challengingly at the upperclassman.

Nekozawa found his kohai's newfound fearlessness amusing. "Indeed I do not," he smirked. "That is, no questions on her gender. In fact, I've known for as long as you've all known about _this._" He held up a lock of his blond hair. "And it was for _this_ reason that I haven't told anyone, since I know that is your next question. I thought it would be best if we all kept our personal business _personal._"

"Well…" Tamaki sounded as though he wanted to object, but didn't have any grounds to do so. He was nervous about another Kasanoda situation, but instead of Haruhi as a Yakuza wife, she'd be a black magic priestess. Lovely as though she may look in all black, Tamaki frowned at the thought. He tried to convince himself that Nekozawa probably didn't care if she was a girl or not, but the Host Club King was also thoroughly convinced that Haruhi was _so_ cute, anyone who knew wouldn't be able to stop themselves from falling in love with her.

"No need to be nervous," Nekozawa hummed a little wickedly. "Haruhi trusts me, don't you, Haruhi?"

At this, and the questioning look on her club president's face, Haruhi decided it was her cue to figure out how to broach the subject to Tamaki that her relationship with Nekozawa was more than just a casual familiarity. Finally, unable to think of a way to bring up the subject delicately, and unwilling to procrastinate any longer, she decided to just say it bluntly.

"I'm not worried about it. Actually, Nekozawa-Senpai and I have been hanging out for a few weeks now. I went on a field trip with his club once, and he's helped me with my literature homework."

Following this, Haruhi was flanked by two powerfully contrasting emotions. Tamaki looked shocked, horrified, and a little betrayed. For his part, Nekozawa, with his broad, entirely too pleased grin, looked like the cat that had just swallowed the canary.

"That's-!" Tamaki sputtered, unable to form a complete sentence. "Haruhi, that's…!"

"-That's true!" Nekozawa finished for him with an eager smile, and watching Tamaki carefully, he pulled Haruhi against him, wrapping his arms around her and smirking devilishly at his rival. "Haruhi and I have become_ great friends_!"

Haruhi made a show of rolling her eyes at Nekozawa's unnecessary display of machismo, but blushed a little despite herself.

"Stop that!" Tamaki insisted, as if Nekozawa was getting her dirty. "Haruhi wouldn't be friends with you!"

"And why not?" Haruhi asked icily as Nekozawa behind her grinned into her hair.

"Because-!" he choked, "…Because you're friends with me!"

"Are you saying I can't have lots of friends?"

"No, of course not! Just- …why HIM?" Tamaki cried in exasperation.

"Because I like him," she answered plainly, frowning. "I don't think I should have to explain myself."

A very thick and awkward moment of silence passed between the three of them as Tamaki wracked his brain for a reply to her statement that wouldn't offend her. Haruhi scowled, and Nekozawa leered contemptuously at Tamaki from behind her, his arms still comfortably wrapped around her shoulders, her back pulled against his chest, sharing her warmth. Finally, Tamaki looked like he was going to cry.

"You… you aren't going to leave the Host Club, are you?" he sniffed. Haruhi sighed and rolled her eyes, his 'sad puppy' expression going right to her heart.

"No, of course not," she replied, sounding resigned. "Nothing is going to change. I was only telling you because it's true. I haven't missed a single meeting so far, right?"

Having no argument against this, Tamaki instead turned a suspicious eye to Nekozawa, but said nothing.

"Such a look you give me, Suoh-Kun," the Black Magic president smirked wryly. "I'm not going to_ eat_ her."

"The way you say that doesn't bring comfort at all!" Tamaki shouted, and threw his senior's arms off of Haruhi, pulling her away from him by protectively. "And stop touching her!"

"I've done no more than I've seen you and your club mates do," Nekozawa defended himself, secretly adding- _'that you know of_'

"That's different!" Tamaki argued a bit pathetically.

"How is it different?" Nekozawa demanded.

"Because you'll get _evil_ all over her! Don't corrupt Haruhi's pure and innocent charm with your spells and witchcraft!"

About that time, Haruhi decided she'd had enough of their bravado.

"Well, this conversation doesn't interest me, so I'm going over to the buffet table," she announced detachedly, pulling away from the both of them. "You two can continue talking over here."

The two blonds watched helplessly as she walked away, feeling a little foolish. Tamaki then turned furiously on Nekozawa.

"Now look! You've made her mad!"

"_I_ did?! That was_ your_ doing!"

Tamaki huffed and went to go after her, but he was stopped by Nekozawa calling out very curtly, "Suoh."

It didn't escape Tamaki's notice that he'd dropped the honorific, and he turned to see his upperclassman regarding him very seriously. Slowly, a dark smile spread across Nekozawa's face.

"I've decided I rather like Haruhi," he announced. "You'd better watch out."

Tamaki's brows furrowed, but before he could respond, Nekozawa had swept out of the room.

* * *

Throughout the party, it was noticed that Nekozawa would disappear and reappear periodically. Haruhi was able to surmise that being in a well lit room was taking its toll on him, and during his frequent absences he was recovering in a dark room. As the day wore on, she and Tamaki both noted that he would stay gone for longer, and when he would return, he would stay in a dark corner looking a little ill. Bereznoff, who appeared early on after one of Nekozawa's vanishing acts, kept him company.

Tamaki never seemed to mind when Nekozawa was out of the room. In fact, it was only in the rival club president's occasional disappearances that Tamaki ever seemed really comfortable, chatting with the other guests and entertaining Kirimi and her friends. When Nekozawa returned, Tamaki's spirit seemed to dampen, and he appeared stiff and a little irritated. Haruhi knew that her club president had never really gotten along with his fearsome counterpart, but it seemed exceptionally troublesome this time. It was a cause for some worry to her and she wondered if they'd had a fight after she'd abandoned them in favor of the buffet table earlier. She had attempted to inquire about it, but Tamaki just smiled, pleased that she was showing concern for him, and told her that everything was fine.

Nekozawa, meanwhile, seemed to be in a fantastic mood for a person under constant exposure to the one thing he hated most. When he would return to the party, lurking in a dark corner and attempting not to look as ill as he felt, he would be smiling broadly. More than once Haruhi glanced over and caught him gazing at her from across the room, or smirking contemptuously at Tamaki, who intermittently either noticed or didn't. This made Haruhi a little uncomfortable. She usually didn't care about the personal conflicts of others as it wasn't her place to meddle in someone else's affairs, but somehow she felt like she was really missing something important, and she couldn't figure out what.

And then Nekozawa, exhausted, would excuse himself to the darkness again and Tamaki would notably inflate. This continued with increasing frequency until the sun began to set, and Nekozawa seemed to revitalize. Slowly he would emerge from the dark corners and venture past windows, and at the same speed, Tamaki's mood seemed to sour. As night fell and Nekozawa was able to fully immerse himself in the party, Tamaki would find an excuse to drag Haruhi into another room any room that his senior wasn't in, under any pretense. When Nekozawa was in the parlor, Tamaki lead her into the sitting room. When Nekozawa met them in the sitting room, Tamaki excused them into the game room. At some point she was pretty sure they ended up in the laundry room. Finally, Haruhi had enough.

"Tamaki," she finally snapped as he pulled her into the kitchen under the excuse of meeting the servants. "I don't know if you realize how transparent you're being but it's clear you're angry with Nekozawa-Senpai."

Tamaki hesitated, frowning, before forcing a fake smile. "Why would you say that, Haruhi? I just wanted to explore a little! The twins would be upset if we didn't," he argued a little pathetically. Haruhi was unimpressed.

"Is it because I've been hanging out with him, or because I didn't tell you I was hanging out with him?" She demanded, crossing her arms. Tamaki shuffled, looking abashed, and didn't say anything.

"Well?" Haruhi insisted crossly, scowling. "If you don't talk to me about this, I'm going to become angry with you."

At this threat Tamaki paled, and his eyes watered as if he was about to cry. "Would you really?" he whimpered. Haruhi nodded, and he sighed in defeat. Haruhi repeated her question.

"Is it because I've been hanging out with him, or because I didn't tell you I was hanging out with him?"

"It's… BOTH!" Tamaki finally admitted, and gave her a desperate look. "Why wouldn't you tell us you were friends with him? We wouldn't have kicked him out if he was your guest! We didn't kick out Kasanoda, did we?"

"It's not about that," she replied coolly. "I admit I could have told you sooner but I was afraid you would overreact. Like you _are_," she added sharply, causing Tamaki to wince.

"B-but I just don't understand! Why _HIM?_" Tamaki implored, succeeding in looking as confused as he felt. "I don't see the appeal!"

"You don't have to." She pursed her lips, trying to keep her irritation down. "I see it. That's why he and I friends."

Tamaki drew himself up, his brows furrowed. "Well I don't approve! Haruhi, as your father, I _forbid_ you to see him in private!"

"You _aren't_ my father and you _don't_ have the authority to do that!" Haruhi raged furiously, and her president's composure seemed to wilt.

"You can still see him in a _public_ setting, though!" he attempted. "We'll invite him to club functions if you like!"

"You can't limit what I do or do not do!" she fumed. "It's no business of yours! What do you have against him, anyway? You were perfectly willing to help him before with Kirimi, and you were happy to stay at his beach house for a weekend!"

"-Well I wasn't _'happy'_ to stay there-"

"-And you came to this party knowing full well he'd be here! Why should my friendship with him alter your opinion at all? It has nothing to do with you!"

"Because I don't trust his intentions for you!" Tamaki finally admitted in a loud voice, boiling down to his ultimate point. Immediately he regretted his outburst. For a moment, Haruhi was quiet.

"Nekozawa doesn't… have any intentions for me," she explained, but truth be told, she didn't entirely believe that. He'd in fact made his intentions clear at the end of their study session. But since she'd turned him down, there shouldn't have been any more to it.

Tamaki didn't respond. He couldn't tell her what Nekozawa had told him earlier. She might accuse him of lying, or worse… she might consider her return feeling towards him! Tamaki couldn't bear the thought of Haruhi falling for Ouran's Prince of Darkness. But then again, so far Haruhi had managed to gracefully reject the advances of any potential suitor, why should this time be any different? In the end, surely Nekozawa would make his move, and Haruhi would turn him down as she always did, and Tamaki would have nothing to fear. And he couldn't stand fighting anymore. In a sudden move, the Host Club King pulled Haruhi into a crushing embrace. She gasped as the air went out of her lungs.

"I'm sorry, Haruhi!" he wailed, hugging her tightly. "You're right! I shouldn't have doubted your judgment! If you want to be friends with other clubs, even if those clubs are full of creepy weirdoes, I will support you!"

"Uh," Haruhi wheezed, struggling in his grip for a moment before relaxing in defeat. "T-that's okay. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have kept it from you for so long. It made me look suspicious."

"I'm so glad we had this talk!" Tamaki exclaimed joyfully, spinning Haruhi in his arms as she attempted not to choke and finally pulled herself out of his grip.  
"Let's re-join the party," Tamaki suggested. "I want some more of that pink cake!" Without waiting for a reply he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into the drawing room.

Nekozawa watched as his two schoolmates returned, hand in hand from another room, looking supremely relieved. Tamaki even _smiled_ at him when their eyes met before immersing himself in Kirimi's horrible cake. Haruhi decided she needed a breath of fresh air and headed out to the balcony to be alone for a moment.

Nekozawa waited a few breaths, and then followed her.


	12. Astrology

Well since it's a blue moon and all I figured I may as well update. I'm embarrassed it took me an entire YEAR to finish this chapter, but I hope it's worth the wait. Thanks for all the reviews, they're very encouraging- they're sometimes the only thing that compels me to write some more! And thanks again to Leafygirl for being my second pair of eyes.

* * *

The sun was setting, and the sky was darkening from a vibrant purple to an inky blue. Bright little stars were beginning to debut through the dusky veil, and the not-quite-full moon was the brightest illumination for miles.

Haruhi decided she actually sort of liked the view from the veranda of the Nekozawa estate. Most of the mansions she'd seen were on hilltops but this one was low in a valley, and had no real view outside of the Nekozawas' property. But instead of feeling isolated, it had a comfortable, private feel. Overgrown trees blocked the sight of any city nearby, the garden was fragrant and colourful, and the brisk evening chill was a welcome change to the stuffy atmosphere of the crowded party. With the exception of the unsettling image of a tire swing that appeared to be hanging by a noose from the gallows, Haruhi was really quite comfortable. Contented, she let out a sigh.

It didn't escape her attention when after a few moments she was joined by the party's host, but he didn't say anything, and so, neither did she. Instead Haruhi and Nekozawa stood quietly together and watched as the sky was slowly blanketed with darkness, enjoying the refreshing feel of a slight wind tousling their hair and cooling their skin.

After a calculated pause, Nekozawa was the first to break their comfortable silence. "I hope I'm not disturbing you…"

"Not at all," she responded smoothly, her eyes still on the sky. "I was just getting some fresh air."

"Are you having a good time, Haruhi? I was afraid you would feel awkward, since it's mostly my family and the parents of preschoolers here."

"Oh no, that doesn't bother me at all," she replied easily, decidedly neglecting to add that it was Tamaki's mood that had been making her uncomfortable, if anything. "I'm having a good time, thank you for inviting us."

"I'm very glad you both came," he admitted. "I was afraid _I_ would be stuck alone with my family and the parents of preschoolers!"

"I don't envy you that," Haruhi laughed. "Though you've been doing a pretty good job of disappearing on and off all day."

"I had… perfectly legitimate… _medical_ reasons for that!" Nekozawa stammered in response, earning another laugh from Haruhi.

"While I believe that to be true," she smirked, "I would also bet that having someone come up to you every few minutes and ask if you were feeling all right and if you wanted a glass of water had at least a _small_ contribution to the length of your absences!"

"Well…" he smiled, "…you've caught me there." Truth be told, Nekozawa had been suffering his relatives' worries for his health nearly his entire life and was quite deft at escaping them. What he really wondered was how long Haruhi had been paying attention that she had noticed it happening.

"I think the real question, though," Haruhi began, "is whether or not _Kirimi_ is having a good time. She doesn't seem to have the problem with attention you have, but I don't know her as well as you."

"My sister is a social butterfly." Nekozawa smiled to himself. "I know she's having a good time because she loves to talk to people. That's why there are so many people here. She'll be very successful one day in maintaining professional relations and friendly acquaintanceships. I have every confidence she'll make our name very famous in this country."

"And what about you?" Haruhi asked, curiously turning her brown eyes up to him. "In this situation you've imagined up for your sister, where will you be?"

Nekozawa blushed slightly and looked out over the yard to avoid her gaze. "Oh, they'll probably lock me in some dark tower somewhere like Elizabeth Bathory," he sighed dramatically.

Haruhi laughed. "I doubt you have as much in common with the Blood Countess," she smirked, raising an eyebrow. Nekozawa's eyes shot over to her, briefly astounded, before he snickered.

"I must apologize, Haruhi," he started, abashed, "I thought for a moment I would have to explain that one to you. I've underestimated your familiarity with vampire lore."

"You've underestimated my familiarity with _Hungarian history_," she corrected, "and you are forgiven. But you haven't answered me seriously. You'll graduate soon, won't you, Senpai? What will you do?"

Nekozawa hesitated then, a serious look on his face. It was certainly a topic that had come up in his mind before, but rarely did he hear it voiced. As an aristocratic descendant of royalty with a hefty trust fund, the only thing that was expected of him was that he not embarrass his family upon reaching adulthood. He wasn't expected to work, just maintain social alliances and not squander the family fortune. He'd had no real encouragement to study a trade, and no professional interests. This question of what he would do upon graduation was one that had been plaguing him for quite some time now, and no solution had arisen thus far.

"Hmmm," he sighed, chin in hand. "I never quite decided. Perhaps I'll write a book of the occult and quietly stay out of my family's way."

"By your choice, or theirs?" she asked innocently. "I mean, why would you feel like you'd be in the way?"

Nekozawa dithered, not knowing precisely how to answer. "Well…"

Haruhi cut him off. "Is it because of your sunlight thing? Or your magic?" She glanced down then at Bereznoff resting on the banister beside Nekozawa, and raised an eyebrow to him speculatively. "…Is it because of Bereznoff?..."

"No, it's… well… I mean, my mother's side is confused by all that, but not my father's side, the Nekozawas. I'm sort of the accumulation of their customs and beliefs, so I'm all right so long as I stay in Japan. I just don't know what good my… physical presence would do for them. I'll probably just inherit an estate and try to perform some helpful magic for my family's well-being. And, you know… some helpful curses as well," he smirked. Haruhi did not reply, looking blankly out over the yard, lost in thought. Nekozawa watched uncomfortably for a moment when she did not answer. He bit his lip, trying to think of something to add.

Finally, she came to a conclusion. "What about science?"

Nekozawa stared at her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Come again?"

"It's kind of like magic, right? Maybe chemistry," she continued. "Or art? I'm sure you'd be good at art. Poetry, perhaps?"

"I don't think I understand," he admitted.

"I just find it strange that you don't know what to do." Haruhi shrugged. "Or that you would just cast yourself aside like that. Everyone in the club has such big ideas for their futures. Kyouya is getting a good start on running his family's business; Hunny and Mori are going to take over their family dojos; even Tamaki has no end of ideas as to what he wants to be when he… you know, grows up."

Nekozawa scratched is head- momentarily finding himself trying to scratch underneath the band of a wig he wasn't wearing. "I suppose I won't rule anything out," he conceded, "but I need more time to think about it." He did like to read. Maybe he would join the literature department at a university. Maybe.

Another moment of silence passed between them, but it was not as pleasant as the first one. Haruhi didn't respond to him and he didn't know if she was trying to think of more possible futures for him, or if she'd just run out of things to say. Nekozawa was straining to think of something to talk about as well. He didn't know if, after this long of a pause, he should continue with the last subject or start with a new one. He wanted to keep talking to her but suddenly felt an immense pressure to say something interesting, and nothing came to mind.

It touched him to think that she cared enough to be bothered by the thought of his hopeless future, that she would take the time to consider his interests and apply them to possible professions he may want to try. He wanted to tell her how much he appreciated it, how much her friendship meant to him. More than anything, he wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked, but was afraid that would come out sounding inappropriate, or forced. He didn't want her to think he was just making conversation on such an important subject. Nekozawa wanted Haruhi to really understand just how beautiful she was. How kind she was. How clever and interesting she was. But there were no words he could think of to express this.

Also, because of her membership in the Host Club, she would probably never take him seriously.

The insufferable silence was relieved slightly when Haruhi let out a sigh. "I suppose we should get back in."

"Hmm," Nekozawa replied noncommittally. Lull in awkward conversation or not, he was perfectly content to stay out here with Haruhi and watch the sky for the rest of the night. "I'm in no hurry."

"I suppose you aren't," she smirked, "considering what you're returning to. But Tamaki will be looking for me eventually. I should find him before he has a panic attack. I'll let you know if I think of anything else. "

As she began to move, however, she was stopped by Nekozawa gently covering her hand with his own on the banister. With a slight start, she turned to him, trying to mask the growing redness in her face.

"Stay a moment," Nekozawa tenderly pleaded, his blue eyes shining in the moonlight. Haruhi's cheeks lit up, and she quickly turned away, feeling her heart increase in speed. She focused her attention on their joined hands, her chest feeling strangely full.

In honesty, Nekozawa was just as startled as her. When she'd started to move away, he suddenly realized that was the last thing he wanted her to do, and reached out impulsively. Her hand was small and warm, and it felt nice.

"…For a moment," she muttered awkwardly in reply. Nekozawa smiled at her, and she tried not to look at his face. If he could read palms, he could probably read expressions, and things would only become extra complicated if he could tell how handsome she thought he looked right now.

Of course, despite knowing that, she still made no attempt to disentangle her hands from his.

"I have to admit," Haruhi began, hoping conversation would force her heavy heartbeat to subside, "Tamaki and I… well, I think we may have had the same secret reason for coming here, even though we don't know your family very well."

"Oh?" Nekozawa turned to her curiously, raising an eyebrow. Haruhi continued to avoid looking at him, instead gazing out across the yard.

"Well," she continued slowly, "you see… I think we're a little jealous. We never had any siblings. And I know I- at least- never will."

Nekozawa was quiet, not sure quite how to respond to such a confession.

She went on. "Tamaki really connected with Kirimi, back when she was hanging out at the club a lot. I did a little, too, while reading her all that manga… more than I admit. But mostly I just remember thinking, how tragic that you have this family, this type of relationship, and you can't connect with her. It really makes me glad that you two are getting along better now. I just… wanted to tell you that."

For a moment, he didn't say anything, stunned by her feelings. Soon after, a broad, genuine smile stretched across his face.

"Thank you. That… hearing that from you… it makes me happy. And… though I've said this before… thank you and your club for your help in bringing us closer. Sincerely."

His eyes shone with happiness, and Haruhi couldn't help but to grin, delighted. Nekozawa had such overwhelming love for his sister, it was touching to say the least, and she hoped one day the two of them would find a common ground to share. "She must be very special to you," Haruhi commented.

"She is still the day to my night," he replied, his eyes drooping with a hint of sadness. "She doesn't scream when she sees me anymore, but she still prefers me… well, like this," he gestured towards himself, indicating the white suit and absence of his wig. "But I can't do that all the time. I tolerated it today because it's her birthday, but… well, you saw."

Haruhi nodded solemnly.

"She is still unreachable. And since by the time she starts school I'll be long since moved out, I wonder if to her I'll ever be much more than a mysterious black shadow trailing after her."

"Of course you will," Haruhi replied matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She's just a child now. Lots of things will scare her. But if she's already warming up to you, it won't be much longer until seeing that black cloak of yours will be more a thing of familiar comfort than fear. She just needs the time to get to know you."

Nekozawa snorted at first, abolishing the very idea, but then as he repeated the words in his mind, he began to really think them over. There was no way it could be that simple, could it? He opened his mouth, and the closed it again, trying to formulate a reply. Just like that? Was Haruhi able to solve his biggest and most vexing problem, just like that? _Could_ it really be that simple? Surely it would take much more than time to sway his sister's opinion of him. It was impossible. Right? Could Kirimi really just… grow out of it? After spending countless nights praying to his dark Gods for just that… could it be that, in the form of Haruhi, they'd sent him a sign that they were granting his request? He couldn't fathom any possibility of that being true, and yet it made sense. Kirimi _was_ only three… well, four, as of tonight. She could easily grow used to him… she could even come to love the darkness. It could be everything he'd ever wanted. All he had to do was wait.

Haruhi was looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to reply. As if in response to her patience, Nekozawa began to chuckle lowly under his breath.

"You are _phenomenal_," he finally said. "You didn't even do anything, and I feel as though an immense pressure has been lifted off my chest. No wonder you're 'The Natural' at your club!"

"Don't you stand there and tell me you didn't _once_ think of that!" she responded, crossing her arms half in amusement, half in disbelief. "Because I won't believe it. She's just a little girl. Of course she'll be afraid of the dark!"

"I admit," he explained, "I've never allowed myself to think it. If it had ever crossed my mind, I quickly banished it. I suppose I felt that… if it wasn't through black magic… I didn't deserve it."

"Anyone who wants the love of their family deserves to have it. You just have to give it time. You're a _great_ big brother. After all-" She reached up and flicked a strand of blond hair out of his face- "you're willing to put up with _this_ for her."

Haruhi smiled at him in her charming, genuine way, and he was reminded in an instant why this girl was so popular. Such an honest girl, she had such a talent for making complicated things seem so simple. Everyone at the school was so pampered and protected, but Haruhi was so real. For a moment, Nekozawa found himself entertaining the very selfish idea that he wanted to keep her, all to himself.

"You always know just what to say," he mused. A thought struck him then, and he slowly circled around behind her. She turned to face him, leaning her back against the banister. "If Kirimi is the sun, do you know what you are?"

Haruhi shrugged, unable to guess. His arms came forward then, and he laid his hands on the railing on either side of her. Haruhi gasped, suddenly realizing that in one movement, he had completely surrounded her. Her face went ablaze as Nekozawa leaned forward with a predatory smile, forcing them to lock eyes. She couldn't back up or move away. She was trapped.

"You're the moon," he finally said. He could see her eyebrow start to raise in question, and he continued, his eyes gleaming. "However dark the night may be, the moon shines brightly through it, relieving it of its blackness without chasing it away. The darkness… can _touch_ the moon."

He leaned in close enough for Haruhi to feel his breath on her cheek. Her heart pounded as one half of her mind tried to find a way out of this situation, and the other half, contrastingly, couldn't see why she would want to. She understood what he was implying. She just didn't understand why she couldn't simply brush it off, why she felt so warm and light headed at his closeness, and the tone of his voice, and the fire behind his eyes.

"Then… what about a lunar eclipse?" Haruhi regretted the words the moment they stumbled from her mouth. Nekozawa's features took on a strange intensity; an almost feral smirk stretched across his lips, and his eyes burned into hers so fiercely that she could not help but feel intimidated.

"You mean, when the darkness completely envelops the moon? Surrounds it, and takes its light for itself?"

She did not think it was possible for him to be any closer to her than he already was, but to her great shock he leaned closer still, looming over her so she had to crane her neck upward to meet his gaze. She could feel the heat from his body, and it terrified and excited her. In a devilishly playful whisper, he continued, just loud enough for her alone to hear.

"…I should _very much_ like to show you that."

It felt to Haruhi like her blood exploded with fire, heating her body and threatening to crack her ribs against the beating of her over taxed heart. She suddenly became intensely aware of the very minimal distance between their faces, and how incredibly easy it would be to close that distance. Her usually rational and logical mind was devoid of advice, and she found she could only seem to focus on Nekozawa's lips, and eyes, and arms. Slowly, ever so slowly, she began to lean forward to meet him.

Nekozawa, for his part, was doing all in his power to remain perfectly still. He noticed, with no small amount of anticipation, that Haruhi was leaning in closer, and he wanted desperately fill the gap between them, to embrace her, to wrap his arms around her and pull her body against him. He wanted to show her how it looked; how it tasted; how it felt when the darkness enveloped the moon. He wanted to touch her. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted her.

But he'd made a promise. He swore, after the first time, that he wouldn't kiss her again. And if nothing else, he was a man of his word.

If she kissed him first, however, well, all bets were off.

And so he waited.

The distance between their parted lips now was barely an inch, and he could feel the heat of her mouth on his. Her eyes were half lidded, and though only moments had passed, they were agonizingly slow, and Nekozawa could feel that he was nearly at the end of his restraint.

But then, as he was about to give up and meet her halfway to end his torture, Haruhi stopped. Leaning away, she turned her face shyly from him with a small frown, willing the colour in her face to recede. Recognizing her change of heart, Nekozawa took a step back, defeated.

For a long time, neither of them spoke. They stood apart, avoiding each other's eyes and trying to slow the beating of their hearts. Finally, Haruhi took a deep breath and forced herself to look at Nekozawa.

"I should… go look for Tamaki," she said.

Nekozawa nodded in agreement, trying to regain his composure, though blushing furiously. Though the evening was dark and cool, he was wishing desperately that he had his cloak at that moment. Instead, he turned to look over the balcony into the courtyard.

Haruhi turned hurriedly away from him, but then stopped and half turned back. "By the way, I just remembered. I have your book. It's in my bag. I'll just… leave it on the table."

"Oh… yes. Thank you," he awkwardly replied. He did not know which table she meant, as several were set up now, but he figured he'd find it eventually. He listened as she padded over to the sliding glass door and opened it to re-enter the party. However, before stepping through, she stopped. Nekozawa held his breath, afraid she would tell him that he should leave her alone from now on, or something equally horrible. He gripped the railing, his warm affection for her now freezing into an icy fear. But instead of reprimanding him, he heard Haruhi utter under her breath, "Oh my God."

Turning, Nekozawa saw that Haruhi was still in the doorway, staring into the party with a look on her face that landed somewhere between angry and humiliated. His curiosity overtaking him, Nekozawa followed behind her, and scanned the crowd to see what had warranted such a reaction. Just as he registered what had caught Haruhi's attention, as his mouth fell open in horror, Haruhi frowned, and sighed, "The twins are here."


	13. Omens and Portents

As I may have mentioned, I'm making this story up as I go, and have no outline to follow. Because of that, I had a severe case of writers block which I only just now overcame. Sorry for the (very long) wait, but I think they should be faster from here on in. Maybe... two more chapters after this. As always, love to my beta, Leafygirl.

* * *

"The twins are here."

Nekozawa felt as though all the blood had drained from his body as an extreme sense of dread washed over him. Just what he needed- humiliation in front of his entire family. Of course, he knew that in all likelihood even the Hitachiins couldn't be so undignified as to cause a ruckus at a family event they weren't even invited to. In all practicality, they sincerely wanted to wish Kirimi a happy birthday. But just by seeing them, he was overwhelmed with doubt. Surely, they had _something_ malicious planned, if only in a subtle, untraceable way, it seemed inevitable.

Hikaru and Kaoru had come bearing and extremely large, extremely cute teddy bear for Kirimi, much to her squealing delight, and they could hardly be dismissed after bringing so much joy to the birthday girl. They had also come, for whatever reason, bearing some small camera equipment.

As Nekozawa went to his sister, Haruhi approached the twins with a scowl. "What are you doing here?" she asked, and then added, "And what's with the camera?"

The twins grinned at her. "We wanted to explore Nekozawa's house too," Kaoru began. "We didn't think it was fair or just that you and Tono were invited, but not us. Since we're so delightful, and everything!"

"We told the doorman we're AV students, here to film the party," Hikaru explained. "But we came to look for ghosts! We got a camera, and an audio recorder!"

"Although maybe we should film the party a little, for appearances," Kaoru noted. "Get a few shots of Kirimi in case they ask us to send them a copy."

"Ooh! What if we put Kirimi in a white kimono, and filmed her running down a dark hallway?" Hikaru lit up with his idea, and Kaoru grinned beside him.

"That would be awesome! Who do we ask about that?"

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "If you wanted to film ghosts, why didn't you just ask Nekozawa for a tour or something?"

"Because then we would have to talk to Nekozawa," Hikaru replied obviously.

She groaned in frustration, throwing her hands up in defeat.

"Fine. This isn't even any of my business. I'm going to go tell Nekozawa why you're here. Maybe you can interview him or something," she added with another roll of her eyes, and left them.

When she was gone, Tamaki approached the twins carefully, and with tearful eyes he proclaimed, "Thank_ God_ you're here!"

Hikaru and Kaoru responded with identical looks of quizzical disbelief. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard him say that," Kaoru noted.

"It will probably be the last, as well," Hikaru agreed. "What's up, Tono? You get cursed already? You've only been here, like, five hours."

"It's not me whose been cursed!" he desperately responded, leaning in close with an air of conspiracy. "It's Haruhi! Were you aware of this? She's _friends_ with Nekozawa! As in, they've been hanging out when we didn't know it!"

Hikaru's expression resembled Tamaki's when he had first found out, a mixture of betrayal, shock, and horror. Kaoru just looked skeptical.

"What do you mean?" Kaoru asked, an eyebrow raised in question. In a forceful gesture, Tamaki grabbed Kaoru's shoulders and regarded him very seriously.

"She told me so herself! They both told me! They said that Haruhi went on a trip with his club once! And he _helped_ her with her _homework_!"

Hikaru was beginning to join in on his club president's panic. "Asking someone to help you with your homework is almost _code_ for 'we should make out'!" he shouted, and Tamaki gasped as he pictured the scenario in his head- books opened, candles lit, Nekozawa suddenly dropped his pencil, leaned towards her and…

"No, no, no! That couldn't have happened!" he cried, abolishing the thought from his head with a violent shake.

"You know I hate to be the voice of reason," Kaoru began, "but I don't think that proves anything. Okay, so, Haruhi being friends with Nekozawa and not telling us is suspicious. But that doesn't mean-"

"But there's more!" Tamaki interrupted. "When Haruhi wasn't looking, Nekozawa actually _threatened_ me!"

"_WHAT_?"

"He told me personally that he likes her, and then he told me I'd better 'watch out'! How else am I supposed to take a statement like that?"

"Oh, he is so dead!" Hikaru declared, taking a step forward, but Tamaki put a halting hand on his shoulder.

"Wait! I don't think Haruhi knows anything about it! She'll be mad at us if we get in a fight with him!"

"_He's_ the one she should be mad at!" Hikaru turned furiously on Tamaki. "Is she friends with us or him?"

"It's not gonna be _us_ if we go throwing fists and accusations," Kaoru replied, concerned. "If we wanna protect Haruhi from him, we're gonna have to go another route. We have to think of something."

"You're right… we have to think…" Hikaru responded slowly, trying to force himself to calm down. After a very brief moment of contemplation, he finally decided, "We should _hire_ someone to kill him."

"I've got a better idea." Tamaki whipped out his cell phone. "I'm calling Mom."

Across the room, Nekozawa's mood, previously one of the better ones he'd experienced in a long while, had been completely poisoned as he listened incredulously to Haruhi's explanation. He frowned heavily, rubbing his temples.

"So... _ghosts_," He repeated doubtfully. "They came to film ghosts. TODAY."

Haruhi could only shrug in response. "They did bring cameras," She tried to defuse the situation, uselessly. Nekozawa sighed as he glanced up at the pair from across the room. Tamaki had joined the twins, and the trio argued for a moment, then seemed to come to some sort of consensus, while glancing over at him with varying degrees of mistrust. Nekozawa narrowed his eyes. He had performed enough curses to know when he himself was being cursed. He knew they were talking about him- that Tamaki was fouling the twins' opinion of him as they spoke. The Hitachiins had never liked Nekozawa, and he didn't like them. But he especially didn't like that they were undoubtedly finding out about his and Haruhi's relationship through Tamaki's somewhat biased opinion. Certainly while Nekozawa enjoyed his and Tamaki's rivalry, the twins, identical devils that they were, would respond more maliciously than their club leader. They would bully him endlessly, try and force him away from Haruhi. They were sadistic. It was, to Nekozawa, an undeniable fact.

Tamaki pulled his cell phone out of his pocket then, and began punching some numbers. The twins took this opportunity to glare openly at Nekozawa from across the room. One of them (Nekozawa wasn't sure which) looked more hateful than the other, but the message from both was clear: _stay away_. In response, Nekozawa drew up to his full height and looked down his nose at them defiantly. His piercing blue eyes flashed dangerously at them, making his reply quite clear_: try me_. They were challenging him. And he was so up to it.

"I won't deny that this mansion has its share of spirits," Nekozawa started, a statement to which Haruhi was grateful Tamaki hadn't overheard, "but I confess, I find that motive suspicious at best."

Haruhi sighed in agreement. "They'll leave if I do," she said with a defeated look. "I can take them out of here, if you like."

Nekozawa thought about it for a moment. He didn't really want her to leave, but he also really DID want the twins to leave, and he surmised she was certainly right about the twins being willing to accompany her out. He carefully weighed his options and decided that, with this many Host Club members here to compromise Haruhi's attention, not to mention his humiliating rejection by her on the balcony moments ago, his fun was officially over.

"That might be best," he admitted. He narrowed his eyes at his three adversaries, who were all pressing their ears against Tamaki's cell phone and arguing with someone on the other line. He brought his hand up to his chin in contemplation.

"Before that, though," Nekozawa began darkly, "I suppose I'd better go and _greet_ them. They _are_ guests in my home, after all."

Haruhi did not miss the strangely malicious smirk that ghosted across his face as he purposefully strode over to the collected group.

"Kyouya!" Tamaki panicked into the phone, "We have an emergency!"

There was a pause on the other end, and Hikaru and Kaoru could almost hear the sound of their vice president's face falling into his palm. "What is it, Tamaki?" Kyouya sighed a moment later.

"It's Nekozawa!" Tamaki continued hysterically. "You were right that he's known Haruhi's secret for a while, but you were wrong not to worry! We have another Kasanoda situation! We have to stop this!"

"Tamaki..." the frustration was clear in Kyouya's voice, "on what basis do you say this? Because I don't trust your judgment in this matter."

"On the basis that he _told me so_! Clear as a bell!"

This piqued Kyouya's interest. "What do you mean?" he asked, a little too slyly.

Tamaki didn't catch the cunning note in his friend's voice, and went on to recount the night's events. What he couldn't have guessed, however, was Kyouya's reaction.

"Well," Kyouya smiled into the phone with some sort of insidious glee, "_that's_ coming along nicely."

Tamaki stared at the phone in horror. The twins pressed their ears in closer, curious.

"How can you SAY that?" he finally bellowed, aghast at Kyouya's treachery. "What does that even MEAN?"

"I mean I hope it _exactly_ follows the Kasanoda incident," Kyouya calmly explained. "After that happened, our patrons realized that Haruhi was popular with boys as well as girls. Her popularity went up tenfold, and she sold much more merchandise on the website. The memory of it is fading, however. I was hoping a similar incident would spark a renewed interest. Hmmm..." he hummed thoughtfully, "I wonder if there's a way to convince Nekozawa to make a public spectacle of his confession..."

"Kyouya, what the Hell!" Hikaru snatched the phone away from his senior, "That's a terrible plot! You can't use Haruhi like that!"

"Oh, Hikaru, you're there too? What a surprise," Kyouya noted with absolutely no surprise at all. "You may think I'm a schemer, but I'm just making the best of an obvious situation. Nekozawa has clearly liked Haruhi for several months now. If I can turn a profit from this inconvenient situation, at least we'll come out ahead."

Now Kaoru grabbed the phone. "What do you mean, 'several months now'? Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Because then you all would have tried to stop it, but instead you just would have driven the situation into a place where I can't control it. Nekozawa and Haruhi are both stubborn. Anything any of you say or do isn't going to deter them, in fact it might drive them together faster. The best way for this to end is the same way the Kasanoda situation did: he finally confesses, and she turns him down. Preferably on camera."

Tamaki grabbed the phone back. "But how can you be so sure she'll turn him down?" He whined. "I mean, you should see this guy tonight! If I didn't know who he was, I would have asked him to join our club!"

"Haruhi's priorities are school first, this club second. She doesn't have time for a boyfriend, and she knows it," Kyouya continued. And he knew that to be true. Of course, that didn't necessarily have to mean that Haruhi held no feelings for Nekozawa. She clearly did; clearly to Kyouya, anyhow. He seemed to be the only one who knew that. Even Haruhi didn't seem to understand her own feelings. But even if she did, a rational, logical girl like her would save dating for later, knowing it would take up too much of her time and her scholarship depended on her staying at the top of her class. Yes, Nekozawa would eventually tell Haruhi his feelings. And Haruhi would turn him down. Kyouya was counting on it.

He then sighed, trying to summarize his thoughts. "The only way for this to end with everything back to normal is for you three to _not do anything_," he began sternly, "or you might make things worse. Don't drive them together. Just let this play out naturally."

Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged nervous glances. It couldn't be denied that the Shadow King would have planned for everything, and was probably right that their meddling might only turn around and bite them. But they would still prefer that Nekozawa not confess to Haruhi _at all_. They would prefer to banish him from the club and leave him to quietly decay in the Black Magic Club like he'd been doing for so long before. But what could they do about it now?

"...Okay," Tamaki finally surrendered, deflating visibly. "You're right. We'll just have to... trust Haruhi."

Kyouya sighed. He hated hearing Tamaki sound so powerless. "If you feel like you must do something," he began, "Go ahead and keep Haruhi busy. Not _noticeably_ busy, like you're trying to distract her- she'll catch on to that- but enough that she only has time left for studying. That will help remind her that she doesn't have enough time in a day to fall for anyone. And whatever you do, don't mention Nekozawa. Don't say anything to _him_, either, or he might try harder."

This was enough of a plan to invigorate the Host Club King, and he smiled at the suggestion. "That's a great idea, Kyouya!" Just then he noticed the party in question approaching, and paled. "I have to go now. I'll call you later!" With that hasty promise, he snapped the phone shut in time for Nekozawa to stop in front of him.

"What an amusing turnaround." Nekozawa's smile, though genteel, was entirely forced. "It seems this time _I_ am the host and_ not_ the uninvited guest. I suppose I deserve that. Now! I hear you two are on a ghost hunt? Curious though your timing, your location is very well chosen!" His words were playful, but his eyes held contempt.

In reply, Hikaru turned on the video camera and pointed it at Nekozawa.

"I think we found a ghost already," Kaoru began, unbothered by his senior's baleful glare. He gestured to Nekozawa's peculiarly pale ensemble. "Hey Hikaru, how much do you think we could make if we sold this video? It's pretty rare footage." He grinned.

"Our website gets pretty high traffic from the girls at our school," Hikaru replied with equal malice. "It probably wouldn't take long for it to get around."

Nekozawa cursed under his breath. He had seen their camera, and knew he wasn't wearing his wig or cowl, but somehow hadn't put two and two together. A video like this could completely ruin his reputation! Quickly though, he thought of a counter attack. Turning around, he grabbed a hold of Haruhi, who had followed him back to her club mates, and pulled her in front of the camera. To add insult to injury, he wrapped his arms around her possessively, grinning at the camera like a devil.

"How delightful, a commemorative video! Do be sure to include the _lovely lady Haruhi_! Send me a copy, will you?"

"Dammit!" Hikaru swore, flipping the camera's viewfinder shut angrily. "That was smart."

"Can't we edit out the end?" Kaoru asked. Hikaru grimaced.

"Ah, she was behind him the whole time, you can see her."

"I'm getting kinda tired of people using me as weapon in pointless arguments," Haruhi blandly sighed, pulling herself away from Nekozawa. He, along with the twins, had common sense enough to look abashed. She finally rounded on the twins, her arms crossed. "Have you said happy birthday to Kirimi, yet? Because if you have, we should get going."

"We have," Kaoru replied with a slight frown. "We got her a teddy bear."

"We thought about getting her a _flashlight_," Hikaru continued, a menace clear in his voice as his eyes slid over to catch Nekozawa's glare, "since she's _afraid of the dark_. But we figured she probably has plenty already."

That was intentional. Nekozawa glowered hatefully in silent reply. Haruhi threw up her arms in defeat.

"Okay. Great. Now say goodbye."

"Already? We just got here!" The twins whined in unison, but they both knew it was a good idea to leave, because if they didn't, there was a pretty good chance they would try to beat the living Hell out of Nekozawa. That itself would completely mess up that whole 'don't drive them together' plan when Haruhi undoubtedly took Nekozawa's side for the assault- an assault he was completely deserving of, in their opinion.

Tamaki, ever the gentleman, was the first to bow. "Thank you for hosting us today, Senpai," he said with as much appreciation as he could muster, given the situation. "And send my love to Kirimi, as well."

"I will," Nekozawa replied graciously. "Please take care on your way home, Suoh-Kun. I will see you in school."

"Thank you for having us." Haruhi bowed. "Have a good night, Nekozawa-Senpai."

"You are welcome back anytime, Haruhi." He smiled, well aware that Tamaki and the twins were still hovering around. "I hope we can get together again sometime."

Haruhi was not completely oblivious to what was going on around her. She could read the threatening looks in her classmates' eyes. It didn't take a lot for her to understand that Tamaki had told them that she and Nekozawa had been hanging out, and they weren't too impressed with the situation. She didn't know they would do, but she guessed there was a chance that they would take out their jealousy on Nekozawa. She knew enough about them to know that they didn't like to share (a trait that extended to friendship), and weren't above bullying. This was exactly why she had been so hesitant to tell them in the first place. But as long as everyone already knew everything anyway, she may as well make her thoughts on the matter perfectly clear.

"Yes, we should," she agreed. "In fact I think I owe you for helping me with my paper and loaning me your book. You should let me buy you lunch one day."

It was a bold move, and she would probably suffer for it later from her club members, judging by the horrified looks on their faces. But it was better they knew now that she still intended to be friends with Nekozawa, and didn't want it to be a secret anymore. They were just going to have to get used to that.

Of course, a part her worried that she was only asking Nekozawa out (more or less) just to prove to her club mates that they had no say in who she held relationships with and shouldn't try to control her. It's not that she didn't want to go to lunch with him, and not that she didn't owe him like she said, because she certainly did. However, after their exchange on the balcony, the nearly-almost-but-not-quite situation she had been a willing participant of, Haruhi thought it would actually probably be better if she didn't see him at all for a little while. But it was a bit late now.

The man in question, meanwhile, was actually sort of stupefied by her offer. Nekozawa stared at her for a moment, replaying her words in his mind. Had Haruhi just asked him out? By the looks on her club mates' faces- Tamaki, bewildered and betrayed, and the twins seething in unfocused rage- she certainly had. Nekozawa couldn't help the victorious grin that split his lips at this development. And while normally he might be so inclined as to reply, "Oh, that won't be necessary," or perhaps offer to turn it around and buy her lunch instead (a suggestion she actually probably wouldn't have appreciated anyhow), he decided, in light of the situation, to go with a different plan.

"That would be my pleasure, Haruhi." He smiled handsomely. "But I will only accept on one condition."

Haruhi blinked in surprise at his response. The twins cracked their knuckles behind her, prepared to lay the smack down if he said anything out of line. Tamaki prayed that she changed her mind and refused.

"What condition?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Call me by my first name," was his simple request.

It seemed innocuous enough- they had been friends for a while and she still addressed him quite formally. But she addressed her club mates by their names, and Nekozawa even used hers. He wanted everyone to be on the same level. And while under normal conditions he would have made this request in private, there was a certain dark intent to asking her in front of his rivals. This war would be fought on even ground, now.

Of course, this plan would all go to Hell if Haruhi, blinking owlishly up at him, didn't actually know what his name was, a terrifying thought that suddenly occurred to him.

"Um..." She shifted a little, strangely uncomfortable with the intimacy of the request. Her club mates hoped she would turn him down. Getting his name wrong would be a hilarious blow, but it probably wouldn't daunt him- it never stopped Kasanoda.

"...Umehito," Haruhi finally said, testing the name out. Nekozawa's heart skipped a little. He genuinely enjoyed hearing her say his name, rivalry or not. He wanted to hear her say it all the time.

"Haruhi.," he softly replied. "I look forward to our lunch. Have a good night."

Blushing, Haruhi bowed quickly and turned to hide her embarrassment. She made for the door, Tamaki swiftly on her heels. Hikaru and Kaoru, however, lingered.

"_Umehito_", Hikaru mocked, spitting the name like it tasted bad.

"Whatever you're plotting," Kaoru started in a low voice, "it isn't going to happen. Not one person in this club is going to stand for it."

"If we so much as see you in the same room as her," Hikaru growled, "we're gonna make you regret it."

Nekozawa smiled darkly at them; his eyes were narrowed and vicious, his blond hair falling into his face. He wanted to tell them there was nothing they could do to stop him. He wanted to warn them about the torrent of curses they were about to be subjected to. He wanted to say that he was ready for anything they had for him. He even wanted to tell them that they were already too late.

Instead, he snapped the battery plate off the camcorder in Hikaru's hand and pulled out the memory card in one slick motion. He held it up briefly for them to see before pocketing their only evidence of him in a white suit. Years of shuffling tarot cards for an audience had given him a deftness to his hands which the twins, more or less expecting a verbal reply, just couldn't have seen coming.

Without a word, the satisfied smirk still clear on his face, Nekozawa bowed, and gestured towards the door. With a scowl, the Hitachiins turned towards it and stormed out.

So the whole don't-encourage-Nekozawa plan was clearly a bust, but at least they still had the keep-Haruhi-too-busy-to-date plan. Hopefully they could manage to at least not screw that one up, because so far, Kyouya had been completely right. At this rate, they were just going to drive Nekozawa and Haruhi together.

Nekozawa, meanwhile, watched them go with darkened eyes and a devilish grin. Passing by his sister, he patted her on the head, wished her a happy birthday, and then swept up to his room, pulling out his cell phone as he went.

"Reiko-Chan. We need to have an emergency meeting of the Black Magic Club. ...The party is still going on here, is your place available? ...Perfect. Call the others. I'm on my way."

Snapping his phone shut, he slammed the door to his room and began pulling off his party clothes, changing instead into black trousers and a black silk shirt. It was night already, no need for his cloak, so instead he grabbed a long black coat and pulled his wig smoothly over his hair.

"This is going unexpectedly well," he muttered. "But those twins are going to be an obstacle. Something must be done."

He pulled Bereznoff onto his hand with a tug, grinning at the puppet.

"You wanted me to use magic. Let's use some magic."

The puppet might have smiled in reply, but it was probably just the movement of Nekozawa's hand as he reached over to his book of curses, and grabbing it, fled quietly from the mansion.


	14. Dowsing

Is anyone else watching the Ouran live action drama? Nekozawa is in _every episode_ and he's adorably fail-tastic. He's like an awesome Black Magic Team Rocket. I'm so happy. Have a stupid-long chapter, and love again to Leafygirl for her beta badassitude.

* * *

The emergency meeting of the Black Magic Club was held to order in the home of Reiko Kanazuki. This was not generally the first choice of locations for meetings, as Reiko did not have the luxury of the understanding or accepting parents that Nekozawa did. There was no "family curse" in her lineage to explain away her odd behavior, antisocial tendencies, and bizarre fascination with black magic. But what she did frequently have was an empty house, as her family's wealth came from her parents' many hours of working. With no siblings and infrequent appearances by her family, Reiko became quiet and withdrawn. Her parents did not seem to understand how her odd behaviors had happened, and blamed her acquaintances, not realizing she had become friends with them because she was already dark, and they had nothing to do with her downward spiral into ennui. In fact, her friends were probably the only thing that kept her from locking herself in her room some days. As it was, her parents may not have liked her friends on the rare occasions that they got to meet them, but they were at least grateful their daughter had any at all, and hoped this "occult" thing was a phase that passed with high school.

In a rare display, Reiko was in fact not alone when Nekozawa called. Her parents were out, but she had a guest in the form of Shinobu Kokoro, with whom she had been spell casting. Sometimes, the girls liked to get together outside of club and, even though their president strictly forbade it, they would practice a little love magic. Nekozawa didn't like that particular brand of magic because he said it was corrupting a pure force, but weren't they a _black magic_ club? Didn't they specialize in evil spells? What could be more evil than taking such a beautiful emotion and turning into a tool for control? Really, Reiko decided, when she took over this club- and she would, next year when Nekozawa graduated- love magic was going to be right back on the table. What he didn't know couldn't hurt him.

This evening, however, love magic was not what brought her club mates to her parlor in such haste. They had come for curses.

" _O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain_!" Taro quoted with a mischievous smile, looking equal parts delighted and quite dapper in his evening coat, after having been summoned to the meeting only moments after leaving his father's concerto. "I am pleased beyond words, Umehito, that you are finally taking some proactive steps towards your goals! And perhaps this makes me a little wicked, but I am equally ecstatic that, in a most dramatic turn of events, your first course of action is to take out the competition!

"Well," Tokumi agreed with a small, reserved grin, "I can't say the Hitachiin brothers have ever done _me_ any wrong, but I am sick to death of hearing about them. I would gladly curse them from here until next Saturday. In fact, I think we should do the whole Host Club."

"No!" Reiko's eyes flashed momentarily with a cold fire before returning to their usually passive, doll-like state. "Not the whole club."

Nekozawa concurred. "Haniozuka is in no way offensive, and Morinozuka has done more good than harm." His club mates were forced to agree, remembering not so long ago when Mori had brought him back to their club room after passing out in the hallway- not to mention the curses they themselves would probably be subjected to by Reiko if they dared harm Hunny. "And Ohtori- well, I believe we have something of a truce. But the Hitachiin brothers will be targeting me soon. I know this is no business of yours, but I would appreciate the help in preparation."

"Ah, you knew we weren't gonna say 'no' or anything," Jun replied dismissively, wiping Cheeto dust on to the front of his black heavy metal band shirt. "Thats why you called. 'Sides, any excuse to do some cursing is a good enough excuse for us, even if it's for your boyfriend's honor or whatever."

Shinobu, the only one wearing pastels in an otherwise sea of black clothing, shifted uncomfortably, while looking increasingly nervous. "Um... Senpai... are we... are we gonna curse... um... Tamaki?" She squeaked. Nekozawa tapped his chin in thought on the subject. Tamaki had been bothersome at the party, but he hadn't been threatening. Maybe a _little_ curse, just to scare him?

"I don't believe that will be necessary," he finally said, to Shinobu's relief. "At least, not the first move. I believe when he sees our war against the Hitachiins, he will back off. But let's keep an eye on him. Haruhi has a strange affect on him, and I don't know what he is willing or capable to do for her- ..._uhi_, for Haruhi." He bit his lip, hoping no one caught his mistake. Luckily it seemed to go unnoticed.

_I really wish I could share this secret_, he thought to himself_. It would be nice not to trip over my language, and to clear up the obvious confusion they have about me._

"So what should we do first, Umehito?" Tokumi grinned. "Whats a good curse to start off a war?"

Nekozawa hummed in devilish glee, while Bereznoff rubbed his little cloth hands together in anticipation. Finally, unable to choose between several curses he had always wanted to try, he flipped randomly through the pages of his book, closed his eyes, and pointed.

"We shall let the forces of evil decide for us."

* * *

The atmosphere in the Hitachiins' car was chilly at best. Tamaki and Haruhi, whose vehicle had been dismissed hours ago, were riding back with the twins, who were in a decidedly foul mood after the situation at the party.

An uncharacteristically profound and stormy silence had overcome the group, even though they all wanted to talk. But anything said would result in an argument, and nobody wanted to argue, so they said nothing. Several times, Hikaru looked like he was about to speak, but a threatening "keep your fool mouth shut" look from his brother kept him in check.

Nobody said it, but one person kept coming up in the back of everyone's memories, and it wasn't Nekozawa. It was Arai.

Back in Karuizawa, when Haruhi had run across her old friend- and not just that, but an old friend who used to have a crush on her- the situation had exploded. Kaoru and especially Hikaru had proved they were entirely against Haruhi being friends with anyone they weren't friends with, and Haruhi had proved with a rather resounding slap that they had no say in who she spent her time with. The event had culminated in a very nasty argument, and even when it was resolved, Hikaru had still never apologized to Arai for his rudeness. Nobody wanted a repeat of this awful business- Hikaru's cheek stung just with the memory, as it had been pretty much the only time anyone had ever hit him. So nobody said anything, even though they were all clearly burning with unspoken opinions. Hikaru forced his eyes to the window, pointedly ignoring everyone in the car. Kaoru switched between concerned looks for his brother and for Haruhi. Tamaki kept gazing at Haruhi expectantly with his sad puppy eyes, like he was waiting for her to say something first so he could reply. And Haruhi just looked exhausted, glancing around between them or concentrating intently on her lap.

Finally, after what felt like the longest car ride in the history of ever, the driver pulled up outside of Haruhi's place. There was a slight shift in the mood, like everyone was trying to decide if, now that it was too late, they should have said something after all. Haruhi sighed.

"Do you want the dress back?" she asked, shattering their record-breaking length of silence.

"We don't want it back," Hikaru snapped, still not looking at her. "We made it for you. _We_ made it for _you_. So just keep it."

Haruhi didn't miss the emphasis he'd added, noting with some scorn that he was apparently trying to make her feel guilty for not being as good of a friend as them. She wasn't in the mood for that game.

"Thank you. I will," she replied, and opened the door, easing out of the car as carefully as she could in the long dress.

"-Haruhi, wait!" Kaoru called before she slammed the door, having decided at the last possible minute that they couldn't leave things like this. Haruhi turned and peered in, and he tried his best to smile.

"...You look really pretty today!"

Haruhi blinked at him, trying to figure out if this was more emotional blackmail. But finally deciding that it was not, and correctly interpreting Kaoru's compliment as a sign of friendship, she gave him a small smile, and decided to return the gesture.

"Thank you. I feel pretty."

These words had never before been uttered by Haruhi, and would probably never be said again, but she wanted to at least try to meet them halfway. Even if she never asked for it, they did go to the trouble of making her the dress, and she should show some gratitude.

Hikaru turned just in time to watch her close the door and head up to her apartment. Once there, Ranka opened the door for her, squealing enthusiastically and demanding all the details as she ushered Haruhi inside.

Tamaki pouted. "I should have told Haruhi she looked pretty."

"You had _all night_ to do that." Kaoru rolled his eyes at his senior. Tamaki just sank into his seat, depressed, as the car drove off.

"This sucks!" Hikaru cursed, speaking for the first time since they left the party. "What are we gonna do about this? That guy is such a weirdo, I don't want him hanging around her all the time!"

Though he didn't use his name, everyone knew he was referring to Nekozawa.

"Well, what can we do?" Tamaki replied with desperation. "The only plan we've got is Kyouya's. That will work for a while, but it's not gonna stop him from liking her! He's gonna corrupt her with his voodoo and witchcraft! What if he's casting spells on her? This is terrible!"

Hikaru disagreed that Nekozawa had any ability to cast spells, but was all for his president's emphatic agreement. "Exactly! He's gonna try to take her from us! We can't let it get to the 'Haruhi rejects his confession' stage. He can't confess at all!"

Just then, listening to Hikaru and Tamaki, a light bulb went on in Kaoru's head. He grinned. "You know what?" he began slowly, narrowing his eyes in thought. "We can't do anything. Kyouya is right about that. But that doesn't mean no one else can."

Hikaru could tell when his twin was plotting, and liked that he had a plan, but was impatient to see where it was going. "Who did you have in mind?"

"Somebody we trust. Somebody who likes Haruhi, but isn't a threat to our club. Somebody just as terrifying to the student body as Nekozawa."

Hikaru's eyes went alight with understanding. Tamaki looked back and forth between the two, not quite caught up and waiting for one of them to say the rest of the plan out loud.

"You're right," Hikaru grinned. "Bossanova would_ hate_ this."

* * *

Ritsu Kasanoda could not have anticipated the day he was about to have. Tamaki and the twins may have decided that the yakuza heir was the perfect pawn in this chess game they were playing against Nekozawa, but similarly, their rivals were looking to take out anything that could be used as a weapon against them. And while the Host Club had Haruhi on their side, they did manage to entirely forget that Kasanoda was in class 1-D... the same class as the vice president of the Black Magic Club.

Kasanoda's relationship with Haruhi, though no secret, was something Nekozawa's club hadn't even thought could be used against them until almost the last minute. But as classes began again after the Black Magic Club's brainstorm of taking action against the Host Club, Reiko idly half-listened to her teacher, thinking about curses and absently watching her classmate's distractingly red hair when an idea dawned. She of course could not have guessed that the Host Club had thought of the same thing just the night prior, in fact she thought herself quite clever for realizing the potential of outsourcing. Nonetheless, as Kasanoda's classmate, Reiko had the opportunity to be the first one to proposition her fellow frightening freshman, thereby giving her club the advantage.

The wide berth Kasanoda was routinely given every day became notably wider on a break between classes as everyone instinctively shuffled farther still when Reiko and Kasanoda were sharing the same space. Kasanoda was mildly surprised when she approached, but not as terribly dismayed as his classmates were. He didn't especially dislike the girl- in fact, he often felt she was the only one he could particularly relate too, being similarly ostracized- but he still couldn't help the fact that everyone in the Black Magic Club freaked him the hell out. He tried to look nonchalant as he turned to face her, but only managed a terrifying grimace.

"Good afternoon, Kasanoda-San," she greeted, though she didn't sound like she meant it.

"...Kanazuki-San," he huffed gruffly in reply, feeling a little awkward that she was talking to him.

"I just wanted to ensure that you bore me no ill will," she began in her usual bland tone. He raised an eyebrow in reply.

"...N... No..." he mumbled.

She continued, "And none to my club, either?"

The suspicious look that was trying to register on his face was coming out alarmingly aggressive, but it wasn't intentional. "Not really... _why_...?"

"It has come to my attention that our friends in the Host Club may soon try to turn you on their side against my club president," she finally explained.

"Are you _serious?_" he shouted, much louder than he meant to. He attempted to dial it back, aware of the looks his classmates were giving them. "I mean_... why_?"

"Our esteemed president has recently found himself enemies with the Hitachiin brothers," she went on in her cold, robotic tone. "They now have Suoh on their side. I just wanted to warn you, and ensure you bear no ill intent against us, before they try to make you a weapon in their war."

Kasanoda slammed his fist into the desk at this, nearly breaking it. His demeanor was definitely hateful now, and his classmates nearly threw themselves against the wall in fear as the Human Blizzard bore his ice wolf fangs.

"_NOBODY USES ME!_" he hollered, the force of his exclamation echoing off the walls. Reiko was curiously immune. "What would I even have to DO with this business?"

"Because it has to do with Fujioka-Kun," she calmly added. Kasanoda froze at this, his heart skipping a beat at the mention of her name. For a moment, he wondered if Reiko knew Haruhi's secret, but after observing her for a moment he decided that she probably did not. She, like half the rest of the school, just thought he had a gay crush on Fujioka. It was embarrassing, but at least nobody teased him for it. Nobody dared tease the next mafia boss.

Kasanoda's mouth drew into a long, thin line as he put together everything he'd been told in this conversation. "Okay..." He growled, agitated, "what _exactly_ does Fujioka have to do with the Black Magic Club?"

"I'm afraid that's not my place to say." Reiko held up her palms. "I would recommend you ask Fujioka, though, before you ask Suoh. Their opinions will be quite different."

"You guys aren't... you guys aren't casting _spells_ against Fujioka, are you?" he asked warily, knowing how silly it sounded coming out of his mouth but concerned all the same.

"We are not," she assured. "But we soon will be opening the gates of Hell upon the Hitachiin brothers. I just wanted to make sure you aren't against us when we do. I would hate to have to curse you as well, Kasanoda-San." She turned away and started back towards her desk. He stared at her retreating back and waterfall of jet black hair as she added darkly, "...Because I will."

Kasanoda shuddered.

* * *

The Host Club was an explosion of colour and noise as usual after class. There was always a little more action on the days the club decided to wear theme costumes.

Today's agenda had them in splendid courtly attire for an almost certainly historically inaccurate but handsome all the same medieval theme. Tamaki, naturally, had donned red, gold and white as the king of the club. He was terribly impressed with his gold crown, and resolved to wear it all the time, though the others hoped he would forget that promise. Kyouya, wearing dark robes of a clergyman and looking a little more corrupt than holy, appeared behind him. Mori was a knight in chainmail armor, with a rather fantastic cape, and Hunny his adorable squire. The twins were perfectly executing a pair of mischievous but charming princes, inspired almost directly from Disney classics to instill in their patrons that whimsical sense of 'someday my prince will come'. As for Haruhi, she was a little less impressed with her ensemble, as someone had decided that with all this royalty, it would be practical (or hilarious) to dress her as a peasant. So she was in the brown tunic of a working man, and though she wondered if this was some sort of punishment, she pulled it off all the same, reminding her guests of a plucky young hero who was just about to set off on some magical journey; a story which they seemed to be narrating as they sat with her.

"Maybe it's some great evil force that's about to take over the land, and he has to stop it!" One girl suggested as a group sat around Haruhi trying to decide why she was about to partake in an epic quest.

"Too broad!" Another girl waved it off. "Maybe there's a kidnapping and he goes to save them- or an old wizard comes to town and takes him as an apprentice!"

"Maybe he stows away with a caravan of Gypsies!"

"Ooh! He should meet a dragon!"

"Yes! And the dragon is actually a beautiful girl and she's under a spell, and he has to break it!"

"Where is my laptop? I want to write this down!"

They continued to delight in their circle of gossip as Haruhi contentedly listened, pouring the tea. As the last of the chamomile dripped into a cup, she frowned slightly, and excused herself to fill a new pot. Tamaki approached her as she rummaged through the tea canisters, posing dramatically.

"What do you think of this costume, Haruhi? It's suiting, isn't it? I can't believe we haven't done this before. I'm going to wear this crown all the time!"

"So you keep saying," she absently replied.

"Don't be sad, Haruhi!" He grinned. "I know you wanted to be royalty too, but we can't all be! I still think you look adorable!"

"I'm telling you, it's fine," she replied. "I don't care either way. Truth be told, your outfit looks hard to move in. At least mine breathes."

"That's getting into character, Haruhi! A peasant would certainly worry about those things!"

"Who's in character!"

"Oh, I have an idea! Next, let's do time travelers! No, wait- lab coats!"

"You watch too much TV!"

If she was forced to be honest, Haruhi was just glad things were back to normal. After the chilly farewell the previous night, she was afraid the atmosphere would be awkward, or her friends would be mad at her. But in class, the twins had greeted her the same as usual, and club had gone about as it usually does. She was glad that everyone seemed to decide to drop the whole argument. She hoped they would also decide her outside friendships didn't bother them, but knew it probably too much too soon for that.

She sighed as she picked up another tea canister and set it down. "We seem to be out of chamomile. That's the drink of choice at my table; I think I'd better go and get some more." She turned and headed for the door, as Tamaki nodded.

"Yes, a splendid idea, Haruhi! I'll entertain your guests while you-" he stopped suddenly. A vision flashed into his mind just then- Haruhi, alone in the empty halls, when Nekozawa appears, evidently having been stalking her from the shadows and waiting for the perfect moment- he snaps his fingers, and just like many weeks before in the club room after hours, two robed members of the Black Magic Club dash out and abduct Haruhi, and they all disappear into a cloud of smoke...

"Ah, Haruhi, wait!" Tamaki called, stumbling after her with a forced grin. "Actually, Daddy wants to go and get the tea this time, so why don't you stay in here and- and- and help Hunny cut the cake! Yes! _Hunny Senpai_!" he called out before Haruhi could protest, "Haruhi is going to help you cut the cake! Off you go, then!" He directed her quite forcefully with a hand on her back towards a waiting and brightly smiling Hunny. Haruhi seemed perplexed, but obliged all the same. Out of her line a vision, the twins shot Tamaki a quick thumbs up. He returned the gesture before exiting the room to retrieve the chamomile tea.

"Haru-Chan!" Hunny called out adorably. "We have yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It's really yummy! Come help us cut it!"

"Sure," Haruhi had no choice but to shrug and go along with it. She picked up a knife and began carefully cutting the cake into even slices while Hunny grinned and Mori watched quietly.

"We should offer some to Kao-Chan and Hika-Chan too! Since they seem to be upset today!" Hunny offered, taking a plate of cake with great enthusiasm. Haruhi quirked an eyebrow.

"They seem fine to me," she said as her senior shoveled a fork full of desert into his mouth.

"Hmm! That's what they are trying to show, but Takashi and I know them." Hunny tucked into another forkful and asked, still quite pleasantly, "Did you guys get in a fight?"

Haruhi was stunned. Once again, Hunny showed a strange insight she could not have predicted he was capable of. She had no idea Hikaru and Kaoru were still mad- she couldn't tell a thing, and she had classes with them. She was usually so observant too, she could pick out their bad moods. Looking over her shoulder, she could see them, in their princely attire, making fake eyes at each other and playing up their "Brotherly Love" act for their guests. They didn't look anything but normal- well, normal for them. Haruhi was baffled.

"W-well," she stammered, suddenly feeling on the spot. Hunny's big, caramel coloured eyes were looking at her expectantly, and she sighed again, composing her thoughts.

"Hunny Senpai," she began, "Would you be mad if I was friends with people outside of the club? You wouldn't, right?"

"You mean like Neko-Chan?" Hunny offered, finishing his first plate of cake. Haruhi halted again. How did he keep doing that? He always seemed to know what was going on. Her eyes drifted towards Mori, whose expression was not discernable. Maybe Mori had told Hunny about the time they helped Nekozawa back to his club, and Haruhi had stayed with him a moment? Mori did not seem like the gossiping type, but Hunny WAS his cousin, so it couldn't be said what they talked about in private. Then again, Kyouya knew, too, that Haruhi had been spending time with the Black Magic Club president. It was entirely possible that the people who found out last night at the party were the only people who hadn't known.

"Er..." Haruhi paused, "..actually, yes, exactly like Nekozawa-Senpai. I've been hanging out with him sometimes after club. And I don't think that's so unreasonable, but Tamaki and the twins were pretty unhappy about it." She sighed, reliving the previous night's events. It had been a whirlwind of emotion. Anger, resentment, humiliation, and... something on the balcony with Nekozawa that she couldn't quite put a name to.

"Hmmm..." Hunny began thoughtfully, swinging his short legs under the chair and brushing off the sleeves of his costume. "What do you think, Takashi?"

Mori sat quietly for a moment in his suit of armor, composing his thoughts. Haruhi always appreciated that he took the time to think about his words before he spoke, but she was suddenly feeling a little anxious about his reply.

"He isn't as bad as he likes people to think," Mori finally said.

"I agree." Hunny smiled, dishing out another slice of cake. "You know, sometimes Reiko-Chan likes to visit me, and sit with me at lunch. She tells me lots of things about him!"

_Oh, of course,_ Haruhi thought. _Kanazuki likes Hunny-Senpai. He's probably heard all about Nekozawa-Senpai and I from her. He may have even known from the start!_

"So, since I have a friend in the Black Magic Club," Hunny finished with a wide grin, "I think you can, too!"

Haruhi smiled. She was relieved to have at least somebody on her side. "I'm glad. If only I could convince Tamaki and the twins of that, too."

"Why don't you try offering them some cake!" Hunny suggested brightly. Haruhi did not think that would work. But on the other hand, there were worse things to try. She laid out a tray with some plates of cake, and took them to the Hitachiin's table.

Tamaki was just returning with tea in hand when he heard somebody with very heavy footsteps walking quickly behind him. Knowing almost nobody who didn't walk with utmost grace and poise, he turned to find himself staring at the tall and foreboding outline of an advancing Ritsu Kasanoda. Tamaki's voice momentarily stuck in his throat. He knew he and the twins had wanted to talk to Kasanoda about the situation with Haruhi- and while it wasn't his plan, he did consider that by speaking with the younger man alone he might be able to compose something a little more tactful than Hikaru's "operation: just have his Yakuza thugs beat the crap out of Nekozawa"- he still couldn't help but be intimidated. Normally, Tamaki would brush this feeling aside, reminding himself that poor Kasanoda's face was just _stuck_ like that and there was really nothing he could do about it, so be nice... But today, Kasanoda tromped towards him, shoulders forward and hands in his pockets as if he was concealing a weapon, and the look on his face gave Tamaki a thrill of terror along his spine. This wasn't Kasanoda's usual kind of scary face- the accidental one. This was a demonic look of unbridled rage- enough to freeze one to the bone. This wasn't just the Human Blizzard, this was the Human Arctic.

"_Suoh-Senpai_," Kasanoda growled in a voice so low and unearthly it should have the power to raise the dead, "_we need to talk._"

Tamaki swallowed his breath in an audible gulp and prayed that by "talk", the yakuza didn't mean "murder". Kasanoda meanwhile paused just long enough to take in Tamaki's courtly costume. A look briefly drifted across his features that seemed to want to ask what the Hell the Host King was wearing, but decided against it.

"B-Bossanova-Kun!" Tamaki stammered, forcing a smile, "We can talk about anything you like!"

"IT'S _'KASANODA'_! DO Y'WANNA DIE?" he thundered in an explosion of fury. Tamaki screamed in fear, and for a moment he in fact did want to die. Kasanoda strode forward, looming over his upperclassman quite threateningly, his sharp eyes flashing.

"_Senpai_." His voice seemed to be emanating from Hell itself. "Why would Kanazuki-San come to me in class today and tell me not to interfere in the business between the Black Magic Club and _Haruhi Fujioka_?"

Tamaki gasped. So the Black Magic Club had beaten them to it! He had no idea how they had known the Host Club's next move, but highly suspected some kind of spying spell. How was he supposed to react to this? He found that his knees were shaking under his robe as Kasanoda gave him a look like he was trying to kill him with his eyes alone. Tamaki wished they had been able to speak with the yakuza first- maybe then he would have turned up at the door of the Black Magic Club instead, looking like a demon spat from Hell.

Finally, Tamaki took a deep breath and willed himself to calm down. He brought to mind mental pictures of Haruhi, and told himself that he needed to protect her, and that if he could face down this ice wolf that was Kasanoda, maybe they would have his fangs on their side. He drew himself up, meeting the redhead eye to eye.

"The one you should be asking is not me, Bossanova-Kun!" he replied, immediately forgetting his kohai's threat from a moment before. "The Black Magic Club is casting spells and witchcraft on my lovely daughter! We're trying to _protect_ her! The one you should really be asking is Nekozawa-Senpai!"

Kasanoda took a moment to think about that. He certainly did understand the notion of protecting someone important to him, though in the course of the day he had just learned two completely different answers to the question of whether the Black Magic Club was casting spells against Haruhi. He was becoming enraged. Why had they dragged him into this? He wasn't even _in_ any of these stupid clubs.

Taking a step back with a severe look, Kasanoda reached into his back pocket. _Oh God_, Tamaki winced, _he's got a weapon. _He actually flinched and closed his eyes when there was a swing of movement as the other boy tore something out from behind his back and held it up to Tamaki's face. When there was no immediate result of this- no pain, no blood- Tamaki opened his eyes slowly. In Kasanoda's hand was a small plain white box.

"I was told to deliver this to you," he snarled, depositing it into Tamaki's curiously outstretched hand. "Don't get me involved in this crap again!"

He turned then and lurched back down the hall, turning a corner and vanishing from sight. Kasanoda hated being thrown into this weird game between the Host Club and the Black Magic Club, but more than that, he hated that somehow, Haruhi was a central figure in all of it. Obviously, the Host Club couldn't be trusted by themselves to take care of her. He was going to have to do it himself; the only way that he knew how. He was going to have a talk with this Nekozawa.

When he finally retreated, Tamaki breathed a sigh of relief. The last few days had been far too intense, and he wished it could all go back to like it was before, when Nekozawa and Haruhi didn't care one way or another about each other. He then turned his attention to the white box. Kasanoda had said he was told to give it to them, and Tamaki presumed he meant by Kanazuki, which meant whatever was in here was probably laden with curses. Slowly, cautiously, he opened the box and peered inside.

There was a small wooded Bereznoff voodoo doll resting within. On its back was carved not a name, but a rounded and lovely heart.

The box hit the floor with a clatter, and Tamaki's piercing shriek could be heard throughout the school.


	15. Clairvoyance

You guys remember a few chapters back when I was talking about the play _The Woman in Black_? They made that into a movie and I forgot to go see it. Taro would be disappointed. I hope it was good.

Sorry again for the long wait, I hope I fixed Kasanoda this time. This chapter is un-beta'd so please forgive any weird spelling and grammar.

* * *

Kanadzuki had recommended talking to Nekozawa before Suoh on the matter of Haruhi's involvement with the Black Magic Club, but that advice had gone unheeded. Of course she would say that, she was Nekozawa's ally. What Kasanoda needed first was a counterpoint to Reiko's insistence that they weren't casting weird spells on Haruhi, which was why he had gone to the Host Club after school. He'd intended to speak to Haruhi herself, or even Morinozuka, since he knew he could trust them, but Suoh was the one he found.

However, earlier in the day, apparently knowing Ritsu was going to ignore her advice, Kanadzuki had left a package with him to deliver to the Host Club. This was exceedingly unnerving. It was just a small, plain white box, but even so, knowing who it came from, and the dark, strangely satisfied look on her face as she handed it to him, the box creeped him out. What was in it? Was it alive? Was it_ formerly_ alive? Would it rain a volley of curses on him and his house for generations? The longer he had the box, the more he thought about those things. And the more he thought about those things, the more he hated the box. He could almost_ feel _the black magic seeping out from under the neat, orderly lid, and he was sure it was poisoning him, soaking into his pores, clinging to his clothes. What sort of blight was he unwittingly about to unleash upon Suoh and his club? What did Haruhi have to do with it?

He would have thrown the box away, but he couldn't be sure what was inside was even truly evil, or if it was just his imagination. Hell, the Host Club could have ordered it for all he knew. But he didn't dare peek inside to see. And besides, it wasn't very polite to throw a box that had been entrusted in your care. So at day's end, he delivered it.

By then, however, he'd had the package all day, and had for hours been fretting over its contents, and over Haruhi, and as a result was in a tumultuous bad mood when he finally ran into Suoh. Reflecting on it later, he realized he'd been unreasonably gruff with his upperclassman, and made a note to apologize later. Kasanoda had originally wanted to go in and speak with Haruhi, but he was so sick by then of holding that box, and in thunderously irritated spirits, so he asked his questions instead to Tamaki. This resulted in even _more_ confusion for the mafia heir, as Tamaki was determined that Haruhi was, in fact, hanging out with a very bad crowd, even though Reiko had told him earlier it was fine. Kasanoda decided the next person to direct his questions to was Nekozawa himself. After finally delivering the hated box, he stormed away, not even waiting to see what was in it. If it really was a curse, he wanted to be far away when it was opened. Suoh's glass-shattering scream across the school was all the confirmation to his suspicions needed.

But the next day, after some time to cool down and think things through, a hot bath and a few hours without that terrifying white box and its mysterious contents, Kasanoda reflected that he should probably stick with the original plan and seek out Haruhi. If he was unconvinced, he would talk to Nekozawa after.

He found her the next day at noon. Haruhi, who was not especially fond of the cafeteria, most often ate lunch in her classroom. Hikaru and Kaoru were out picking up their own lunches, so Kasanoda met her there alone. He excused himself into her classroom and approached her, noting when she met his eyes and smiled that she didn't _seem_ like she was being haunted by malevolent spirits. He had seen people smiling with their mouths while their eyes screamed in pain, but Haruhi looked the same as always. Cute, bright, and unaffected. She stood up to greet him, while her classmates formed a curious circle around them, whispering behind their hands and pretending not to be listening in. Kasanoda rubbed his neck awkwardly, embarrassed by the attention.

"Casanova-Kun," she greeted warmly, and he turned a little pink at her smile. "Did you need to speak with me?"

"K-kinda, yeah," he mumbled in reply. He considered asking her to follow him into the hallway to speak more privately, but thought that would look even more suspicious to her gossipy classmates. Instead, he leaned towards her closely and attempted to keep his voice down. However, his impressive height made for more than a little distance between them, and his sudden decent to level her with his piercing gaze caused Haruhi to flinch ever so slightly. This action, though unconsciously done and out of surprise rather than fear, did not go unnoticed by her classmates, who were quick to misinterpret it.

"Oh, man!" A boy whispered in shock from near the chalkboard, "For a second there, I thought he was going to bite Fujioka or somethin'!"

"If Nekozawa-Senpai is a vampire, this guy is definitely a werewolf," another boy shuddered in agreement. The girls in hearing range of this comment, however, did not take it for the horrifying implication it was meant to be delivered as, and their hearts pounded instead in fangirl rapture, their former opinions on both Kasanoda and Nekozawa now drastically altered as visions of homoerotic supernatural love stories flashed through their minds. Kasanoda grimaced, painfully embarrassed, but undeterred.

"I just... been hearing some mixed messages, and... er..." How could he phrase this? "...You're not being _haunted_, are you?"

Haruhi knew immediately what he meant. "Ah," she replied flatly. "This is about the Black Magic Club, isn't it?"

He was quick to attempt to explain himself. "It's just- you know the vice president is in my class, right? And she told me not to get involved, and I hadn't even _asked_ about it, and then she gives me this _creepy box_ to give to Suoh-Senpai, and_ he_ says you've fallen in with a bad crowd, and I just wanted to make sure no one was casting weird spells on you!"

Haruhi sighed heavily. It was bad enough her two groups of friends were at odds with each other, and now they had to drag poor Kasanoda into this?

"Okay, look," she began, minutely hoping that if no one else, she could at least convince Kasanoda that there was no harm to being friends with Nekozawa. After all, He and Nekozawa had similar reputations, and she was friends with him, so logically, he should be on her side. "Yes, I've been hanging out with Nekozawa and his club. No, I wasn't coerced, and no one is casting spells on me, that I'm aware of. No, I don't intend to join their club. Nekozawa is intelligent and interesting, and I like having conversations with him. _That's it_." She swept her arms with finality at the end. Her classmates in hearing range began murmuring behind their hands, unaware that Haruhi _actually_ had been involved with Nekozawa. Some girls were already texting their friends in other classes and the cafeteria about this new development in their version of Haruhi's love life.

As it was, for the first time, the girls' version of Haruhi's love life, and their new idea of a Nekozawa-Haruhi-Kasanoda love triangle, was not too far off base. Except for the vampire and werewolf angle.

"Alright," Kasanoda agreed warily. "I guess that makes sense." He still wasn't sure that was all of it, though. If they were just casual friends, why would both Kanadzuki and Suoh have such strong opinions about it, strong enough to involve him in it? And if the Black Magic Club really was casting spells on Haruhi, well they wouldn't exactly tell her that, would they? But at the same time, he had no reason not to trust her.

Straightening his back again, Kasanoda nodded. He decided he did want Nekozawa's version of things, after all.

"I just wanted to hear your take, is all," he said, and waved. "I'm going back. I'll come visit you at your club later, some time."

"I'll see you later, then, Casanova-Kun," he waved as he lurched out of the classroom. The moment he was gone, there was a cacophony of muffled gossip behind him.

* * *

As Nekozawa was always the first to arrive at his club, he was also the last to leave. Being club president, he was entrusted with the keys and the responsibility to shut down the theater rehearsal room without incident- and since the Black Magic Club was the sort of organization the faculty would not hesitate to disband if anything was ever awry, he was very meticulous in his duties. He cleaned up any wax that had dripped off the candles, and carefully put away any relics of power or instruments of divining. The last thing he needed was his club threatened by an easily spooked drama professor again.

The click of the lock signified the end of his day, and as he pocketed the key, Nekozawa turned to find that he was not alone in the hallway. As Reiko had chosen not to share with her president the conversation she'd had before with a classmate, Nekozawa was slightly startled to find himself staring at Kasanoda's Hellish grimace.

Kasanoda was fresh from gardening club, and still had clumps of dirt under his nails and on the knees of his pants. He had left the club a few minutes early in order to find the Black Magic Club, hoping to catch the president alone. Waiting around a corner, he watched as the club members left the room, ducking to avoid Reiko, whom he was too embarrassed to have to explain himself to. After a few silent minutes, Nekozawa stepped out in his black hooded cloak, locking the door behind him, and that's when Kasanoda approached.

For an entire ill-planned moment, the redhead could only stare awkwardly, trying to remember what he wanted to say. This succeeded in giving Nekozawa enough time to regain his composure, and he smiled his brightly creepy smile, his eyes hidden under his hood.

"Kasanoda-Kun!" he greeted cheerily. "Have you come for a curse? I can't imagine you need one, but I would be happy to oblige. Or maybe you need a _love spell_?"

He hoped it wasn't a love spell, for a variety of reasons. Kasanoda looked at him stiffly, and scowled.

"Shut the Hell up," he finally mumbled. He didn't mean to come out so offensive, but the Black Magic Club made him nervous, and he could be extremely unpleasant when he was nervous. Kasanoda took a step forward, looming impressively over his upperclassman. It was all Nekozawa could do not to show on his face that the intimidation tactic Kasanoda was employing was working _fantastically_. The Yakuza pointed a threatening finger at his chest, His eyes menacing, though it could not be told exactly how menacing he meant to come off versus how much could be read. In fact, Kasanoda was not trying to look threatening at all, he was trying to look speculative.

"What's going on between you and _Haruhi Fujioka_?" He growled, his voice a demonic rumble. "Now that I've been involved, I need to understand, and I want an honest answer." Nekozawa decided it would be prudent to choose his words very carefully. Kasanoda instilled as much terror in his classmates as he himself did, but without the drawback of endless pranks and teasing. If instead of the Gardening Club he had taken an interest in black magic, Nekozawa was sure the taller boy could contend easily for his position as president.

But in the war for Haruhi's heart, he would not back down without a fight. Nekozawa grinned, meeting Kasanoda's chilling stare with his own level gaze.

"That's very broad, Kasanoda-Kun," He smiled carefully. "Could you perhaps elaborate on what it is you've heard, and I could clarify?"

A look of terror momentarily flickered across Nekozawa's as Kasanoda's scowl took on an unearthly, Hellish intensity . "I _mean_, why did Kanazuki approach me in class and say I should leave it alone, but Suoh says I should intervene? _What does Fujioka have to do with the Black Magic Club_?"

Nekozawa very slowly raised his hands in surrender. "You're worries are unfounded, Kasanoda-Kun," he assured. "Fujioka has nothing to do with our club. The only connection is her friendship with its members."

Kasanoda stared at him with eyes wide, astounded. In a low voice he growled, "What did you say?"

Nekozawa arched an eyebrow. Sure, he knew it was odd that Haruhi would know any of the members of the Black Magic Club of all possible clubs, but he didn't think it warranted that horrorstruck expression.

Then he realized what he had said.

Carefully guarding his expression, Nekozawa repeated himself, with one slight amendment. "I said, the only connection is _his_ friendship with its members."

It was too late, though. He, who had boasted how tremendously good he was at keeping secrets, just let Haruhi's slip. The secret she had trusted him to keep, the secret he had been lying to his club members to protect. Kasanoda was staring at him, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. Nekozawa began calculating escape plans.

"You... You _know_," Kasanoda finally said.

There was a long pause as Nekozawa turned those words around in his mind. As comprehension dawned on him- as he realized, to his relief, that his mistake was not costly- a slow, eerie grin split his face.

"And so do you," he smiled his black magic smile. "And now, we both know that the other knows."

In a sudden movement though, Nekozawa found himself startled as Kasanoda's hand shot forward and twisted in his robe, pressing under his chin. With all the fury of Hell, the Human Blizzard demanded "_HOW DID YOU FIND OUT?_"

Kasanoda's mind was reeling with the memory of his own discovery- that expanse of smooth, soft skin, the curve of her hip, the small but plainly obvious proof of her gender contained in her lacy, feminine bra- if Nekozawa had shared this vision- if he had seen _more_- Kasanoda didn't know WHAT he was going to do.

"I... didn't SPY on her..." Nekozawa choked under the redhead's iron grip, clawing at his wrists in an attempt to lessen his hold. Kasanoda finally seemed to come to himself and released his senpai, backing away with an abashed look. Nekozawa fell to his knees, coughing.

"I won't curse you for that," Nekozawa wheezed as he rubbed his neck, "provided you don't do it again. I found out because Suoh is an_ idiot_ who can't keep a secret. No better than me, apparently," he added as an aside.

"S-sorry," Kasanoda mumbled. Rising to his feet again, Nekozawa waved it off. He dared not ask how exactly the yakuza had come to know Haruhi's secret to warrant such a reaction, for fear of his life.

"Kasanoda-Kun, lets lay everything out on the table, shall we?" Nekozawa pulled his hood back to reveal his face and gave his schoolmate an even look, spreading his hands. "We are both in a unique position, as the only students outside of the Host Club who are aware of Fujioka's true gender. In terms of Fujioka, that puts us on even ground. So let's not hold anything back. Tell me this one thing, and I'll tell you something in return."

"...Okay," was all Kasanoda could reply. He was still humiliated at having attacked his senior like that, but Nekozawa was being surprisingly forthright, and Kasanoda could only respect him for it. He wasn't wrong- they were on even ground, and he was sure now he would get some answers.

Nekozawa nodded. "Then let me ask. I heard some very interesting rumors about a trip you made to the Host Club, and your own relationship to Haruhi. But I know how rumors spread in this school, so I'd like to ask you yourself- how much is true?"

"Probably all of it," Kasanoda sighed, blushing with embarrassment. He leaned up against a wall with his hands in his pockets and tucked his head low- it was a gesture of a shy person trying to look invisible, but on him it only made him look like he was plotting something. "I went to the Host Club that day just to... I don't know, I guess be near her or something. But she was... overwhelmingly cute, and I started to confess. I wasn't thinking, I shouldn't have... but anyhow, I got rejected. Right in front of everybody," he added, putting his hand to his burning forehead in shame.

"I appreciate your honestly," Nekozawa replied, "and I won't make fun of you. Because I'm sure you'll understand me when I tell you this. Over the past few months, I, too, have started to develop feelings for Haruhi."

Kasanoda's Hellish gaze shot towards Nekozawa at that statement, a fire burning in his terrifying eyes. It was all Nekozawa could do not to flinch.

"You _can't_," Kasanoda seethed, leaning threateningly towards his Senpai. "You can't put her in that position. Do you know how awkward it must be for her to keep getting asked out by _guys_ when everyone in the school thinks _she's_ a _guy_?"

"Probably just as awkward as it is to be asked out by girls when in actually she _is_ a _girl_," He responded coolly. "I haven't decided yet if I'm actually going to pursue this. In fact, I'm confident she already knows, and despite that hasn't shown any intention towards me but friendship. Nonetheless, should I decide to confess to her, I want you to respect my right to do so. _You_ had _your_ chance. I should at least be allowed to try. Even if she rejects me, I should be allowed to try."

This, Nekozawa knew, was a little bit unfair. Because what Kasanoda didn't know is that Nekozawa _had_ tried. Twice. And both times, she had turned away from him. In all reality, he and the redhead were already in the same place. In fact it was probably ungentlemanly for Nekozawa to even consider that he would continue pursuing Haruhi when he had promised not to put her in such an uncomfortable situation again, and then did exactly that on the balcony. _Although_, he reasoned, _what I actually promised was not to kiss her again. And I haven't done that._ But when it came down to it, Nekozawa was not about to give up after just one failure, or even two. Not on her.

Because she really had kissed him back.

Kasanoda pursed his lips in thought. He hated the idea of other guys asking Haruhi out, especially creepy guys like Nekozawa, but he made a fair point. And though he would like to join Suoh's team in keeping them apart under the pretense of protecting the woman he loves, the fact was that Haruhi herself had already told him that she liked hanging out with Nekozawa, and he had no real right to intervene. Furthermore, she hadn't seemed particularly wistful or anything else when she talked about Nekozawa, so she probably didn't return his feelings. If Haruhi wanted to be friends with the Black Magic president, even knowing that he liked her, well, that would just put himself and Nekozawa in the same place, and he didn't have any reasonable arguments against that.

But that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Answer this question," the Yazuka growled. "Are you casting spells on Haruhi?"

"I am not," Nekozawa replied.

"And no one in your club is, either?"

"Haruhi received a divining," he answered, "but nothing more. She is safe from witchcraft."

"What do you guys even _talk_ about together?"

"Books," Nekozawa grinned, knowing that Kasanoda had asked that question more to himself but was glad to indulge him with an answer nonetheless. "And poetry. And art, and destiny. And curses."

Kasanoda swept a hand through his red hair, exasperated. An irritated sigh escaped him. Finally, he drew up to his full height, eyes flashing, and pointed a threatening finger at Nekozawa. "If I ever find out you _are_ casting weird spells," he barked, "I will find a way to make you sorry, somehow. If your intentions are less than pure- or if you _hurt _her- I have _guys_."

Nekozawa did not like the way that sounded. It was only by the skin of his teeth he wasn't enemies with the Ootori's- the last thing he needed was to have a mafia family hate his guts. "I would never do either of those things," he assuaged.

"I'm not gonna root for you," Kasanoda continued. "I'd much rather see your ass here in the God damned friend zone with me. But as a man, you have just as much right as I had to get rejected just as embarrassingly. So... you know..." he threw up his hands, unsure what point he was driving at, and unused to trying to sound threatening on purpose. Now he was floundering, and his face was turning red again. "So go mess it up!"

Nekozawa grinned. Good. While he didn't necessarily have Kasanoda's support, he at least didn't have him as an enemy. He didn't know who brought the Yakuza into this business, but it wasn't a surprise to see him involved, and Nekozawa was glad he could tidy this up as neatly as humanly possible.

"I'm glad we've come to an understanding," he said, pulling his hood back up over his eyes. "I'll take my leave, now. But I'll send someone to your club, later this week. You grow some wonderful herbs and flowers there that make for spectacular spell components. Have a good night, Kasanoda-Kun!" He chuckled darkly, leaving Kasanoda with a cold shiver down his spine.

* * *

Haruhi didn't think she'd ever been so busy in her life.

Maybe that was a slight exaggeration, as her life was a hectic one, but in the highs and lows of activities she often fell into, currently she was in a high. The club was as busy as ever and somehow Tamaki seemed feverish in his desire to keep it fresh and exciting, inciting all kinds of new themes and games and snacks. Kyouya was in support of this sudden upsurge in club interest, and managed their activities with his usual cool passion, marketing as the opportunities arose.

And when there was no club, there seemed to be endless field trips that would be organized for no apparent purpose. Tamaki would decide that he absolutely_ needed_ to see a movie, or a farmer's market, or any roadside attraction he could find in a gas station map (a gas station being another thing he decided needed to be seen). The twins were enthusiastically behind him in every pursuit, Hunny squealed in delight at every new adventure, Mori following obligingly, and Kyouya tagged along as if he had nothing better to do. At one point they did manage to pique Haruhi's interest by visiting a museum, but nearly managed to ruin it with their restlessness. Though some were respectfully interested, Tamaki would fidget anxiously and dash from display to display like an excitable puppy, and the twins quickly lost interest and played with things that were not meant to be played with. The whole party eventually culminated in the gift shop, which seemed to be the most interesting room in the whole place for a certain few.

For all the running around she'd been doing with her club mates, Haruhi barely had time to get any homework done, and almost no time was left for any personal activities- she could scarcely get to the market to go shopping without somebody ringing up her cell phone or popping up with the intention of helping but the end result of making a spectacle of themselves.

For almost two weeks, Haruhi had not been able to see Nekozawa at all, let alone take him to lunch like she had promised. She tried to reason that it wasn't such a terrible thing- she really did need to spend some time with the Host Club after the uncomfortable scene after the party, to assure them that she wasn't replacing them, and it was probably best to spend a little time apart from Nekozawa after that conversation on the balcony.

Haruhi couldn't help but blush every time she thought of that part. She knew she ought to feel awkward or uncomfortable- after all, she had already turned him down since he kissed her in his club room, so that should have been the end of it. In fact, she had every right to be angry that he was still putting her in situations like that even after he had promised to be a gentleman. But she just couldn't convince herself to be mad. Not when she could still feel the warmth of his body as his hands came to the railing on either side of her, caging her against him. Not when she could still sense the closeness of his lips, feel his breath on her face, and see the fire in his ocean blue eyes. Not when she could still hear the devilishly seductive words he whispered into her ear, making her skin shiver and her knees weak. These were all things she should be _livid_ about- at both him and herself. But she just couldn't. Her logic failed her here, and not being a creature of emotion, she didn't know what to do with herself. She just couldn't reason it away that she missed him.

And so it was that she decided one morning as she was walking to her locker that as she had no club meet that day, she would forgo whatever activity the Host Club had planned and visit her other friends in the Black Magic Club, which did meet that day. As she was making this decision, the Hitachiin twins flanked her, having also just arrived to school.

"Morning, Haruhi!" They grinned brightly. She nodded her greeting to them.

"So word is, today after class Tono wants to try a karaoke lounge," Kaoru laughed. "We might pass on _your _turn of course, but I'm dying to see if we can get Kyouya to sing."

"Entertaining though that sounds, I think I'm going to have to pass today," Haruhi shrugged. She then decided to just go ahead and be honest. "I'm going to visit Nekozawa today. I haven't seen him since the party."

The mood darkened immediately. Haruhi could sense a definite _that was the plan_ vibe from her companions as they stopped in front of their lockers

"Time for your _date_, huh?" Hikaru grumbled blackly. Hikaru sighed, seeming exhausted.

"Can't you just…. I dunno, pop in for a second to say hello, then come sing karaoke with us?"

Haruhi could see that Kaoru at least was trying to meet her halfway, and decided to compromise. "I will probably only stop by for a moment, but I can't go out afterwards. We've been out every day for a while; I haven't had much time to do my homework, so I've been sleeping poorly. I'm going to go home and study, then get to bed early."

That seemed to placate both the twins. _Baby steps_, Haruhi thought. _They aren't going to agree to this all at once_.

"Well, that seems fair," Kaoru agreed, putting his hand on his locker to dial the combination. "You won't stay our scholarship student if you don't keep top grades. But you better be ready for a very pouty Host King tomorrow at club!"

"I'll wear a helmet," she smiled dryly as the two of them opened their lockers.

There was a _BANG!_ and an explosion of light and colour. Shocked, the three of them shot away from the lockers in a panic, hearts racing, ears ringing, only finally stopping to assess if anyone was hurt. Everyone in the hall looked over in surprise and some amount of fright. When the panic had worn off, it only took a moment to realize what had happened. And then Hikaru started laughing hysterically. Standing in the hallway looking dumbfounded and horrified, Kaoru was covered from scalp to shoulder in glitter.

"Someone _glitter-bombed_ you!" Hikaru was clutching his sides from laughing so hard. "You- you look-" His words drowned away in another fit of giggles. Kaoru scowled, trying to brush the sparkling dust off himself with limited success. Haruhi attempted to help, concerned and annoyed.

"Somebody's looking to pick a fight," Kaoru said. "But why my locker and not Hikaru's?" Indeed, his brother's locker was wide open beside his, un-rigged. Hikaru was rolling on the floor.

"_You look like a stripper fairy!"_ He finally finished between hysterical fits. It occurred to Kaoru that his twin wasn't the only one laughing- other people in the hallway had surrounded the scene, giggling into their hands, texting their friends. He immediately attempted to manage the situation, turning coolly towards everyone with his arms outstretched and a wry smile on his glittered lips.

"Looks like you've all caught me. Yes, it's true- I am a vampire."

For his efforts he managed to get everyone laughing with him rather than at him, but behind his smile he was still really annoyed.

"Who on Earth would do this?" Haruhi puzzled. Peeking inside his locker, however, she grimaced to discover her answer. On top of his glitter covered books and papers was a small, wooden Bereznoff doll.

"Oh, this just got _interesting_," Kaoru remarked when he saw it. Hikaru composed himself long enough to see what they were looking at. To Haruhi's surprise, he grinned.

"So they're gonna fight about it, huh?"

"A bold move," Kaoru agreed. Haruhi didn't know how to respond. She was annoyed with the Black magic Club for this prank- after all, how was she supposed to get everyone to agree to at least tolerate each other if they were going to start bullying one another? But to her great surprise, the twins seemed strangely impressed. Kaoru's annoyance had melted into contemplation, and Hikaru actually seemed excited. A sly look passed between them.

"What do you think, Hikaru?"

"I think this is a declaration of war, Kaoru."

"Agreed. Lets show them we can give as good as we get."


End file.
